The Forgotten Child
by Pelkasauras -Cherry3456
Summary: Dawn Melody is the Forgotten Child. Of who? Exactly. Doctor Who! Along with her faithful companion Jason, also known as Dusk, and her TARDIS, Dawn Melody searches for her parents. And maybe, along the way, some other mysteries will be uncovered... A/N: Definitely going to rewrite this someday.  But I have to finish it first!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I'm new to the Doctor Who section, but I love the show, and am eagerly awaiting the next season of 11****th**** Doctor episodes to start. The 10****th**** Doctor is my favorite Doctor, but unfortunately, he doesn't quite fit into this story...It will be the 11****th**** Doctor and some River Song, also (Because who doesn't love River Song?). And, of course, my main character: Dawn Melody. Also, this story will probably have A LOT of rough spots, as many things in the Doctor Who series are mysterious and unverified, so the story will probably be that way, also. And I **_**do **_**know that the doctor sort of has a daughter, but she's a clone, so I don't think it counts. ;) **

**Enough of my blabbering, please, read and review! Oh yeah, please no**__**flames**_**, **_**yet I **_**do**_** like advice and constructive criticism! Thanks! Enjoy!**

**Prologue**

"Mother, where are we going? There are big TARDISes everywhere!" A little girl with light brown hair and emerald green eyes asked. "We're going to visit an old friend, Dawn Melody," The woman holding Dawn Melody's hand explained. She had wavy, dirty blond hair with little hints of gray in some spots, and brown eyes.

Eventually, Dawn Melody and the woman reached the correct TARDIS. It still looked like a telephone booth after visiting London in the nineteen-fifties. An ordinary human may think that it looked normal, but the woman knew better. This was a Time and Relative Dimensions in Space ship, or better known as a TARDIS.

The woman opened the door to the phone booth, and Dawn Melody followed her inside. It much, much bigger on the inside, and had several corridors and rooms. The control room looked very similar to the Doctor'sfavorite TARDIS, the one he planned on "borrowing." One of the only main differences is that the light cylinder in the middle is a bright turquoise color, not clear and sometimes a light green like the "soon-to-be-Doctor's" TARDIS.

While young Dawn Melody examined the TARDIS and its controls, the woman walked up to the control panel and murmured, "Hello, Sweetie..." The TARDIS's light flickered, and the woman heard its response in her head, because TARDISes have minds of their own, and in a way, are telepathic. _Hello, River Song. It's been a while. _River Song smiled and nodded. "I've grown old now, Sweetie," River Song called her TARDIS Sweetie, just like the term she used for her husband. "And I have a dear little child. I'm old enough to be her grandmother though. I came here with the Doctor's TARDIS, and I have a request. He doesn't know he has a child. He's always off saving the planet, saying he'll be back in five minutes, when really it's been five years. He always is a klutz with that TARDIS. I wish I could go also, but I cannot. So I have one final request, Sweetie. I know what day today is. It's the day he closes the rest of the Time Lords and the Time War events in a Time Lock. Take my daughter, Dawn Melody, away. Please, Sweetie. I want her to grow, to find her father and I, to live in the time we lived, so that the Doctor will maybe change his mind, and take us on adventures with him. I just want things to be right." _Of course, River Song, my friend. I would do almost anything for you. I am still young. I wish to go on the countless days of flying around the universe as you do. I will take your daughter, Dawn Melody, if you tell me what I must do._

River Song smiled. She never did understand why she could fly a TARDIS if she wasn't a Time Lord, but, of course, many things do not make sense in our world. We just have to believe they are possible.

The woman pulled a bag off of her shoulder, and murmured to the TARDIS, "Dawn Melody is five now. She is half Time Lord, half human. She ages within her regenerations, until she is fully-grown. For each of her birthdays, until she is thirteen, I want you to give her one of these." River Song showed her Sweetie eight small packages, and the TARDIS opened a storage compartment within its console, which River Song dropped the packages in. "She will gradually learn to fly you, Sweetie," River Song explained. "Just stay away from landing. I don't want her getting into any trouble before the time is right, okay?" _Yes._ The TARDIS replied. "Oh, Sweetie, I'll miss you...but I must go. And you must, also. Dematerialize where you think is best. Goodbye." A tear streaked down River Song's cheek, and she swiftly wiped it away before walking over to Dawn Melody. This would be the last time she would see her before leaving.

"Mother?" Dawn Melody asked. "Is something wrong?" "No, nothing, my dear," River Song replied. "You're going to have so many fun adventures on this TARDIS. She will guide you on your way, alright?" "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, mother..." Dawn Melody trailed off. "I must go," River Song stated. "You must stay. This is your fifth birthday present." Dawn Melody's mouth made an "o" shape, and she stood up to hug her mother. "Goodbye, Mother," Dawn Melody murmured. "Can I visit?" River Song smiled, and patted Dawn Melody's shoulder after the hug. "There will be no reason. Old Sweetie will explain everything as you grow. Goodbye, my sweet."

• • •

River Song sat on the floor of the Doctor's "borrowed" TARDIS, the future one. It was still stuck in the chameleon circuit. The Doctor said he never had time to fix it, or so he said, but River thought that it was because he liked the exterior of his TARDIS.

Standing up, River Song patted the TARDIS gently, and sighed, saying, "Take us home." It lurched a little, and then River Song sat on the floor once more. As she drew in her final, old, breath, one though remained in her head:

Time can be, and will be, re-written.

• • •

**Okay, how did it go? Does anyone like it?**

**Not sure about this story yet...But it has quite an interesting plot, I think. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 1: The Thirteenth Birthday

**Goodness, I'm **_**so **_**sorry this story took so long to update! I was having a serious case of writer's block, and also haven't been feeling one hundred percent lately...**

**Anyway, I don't know how much I'll be able to update this week, because I'm going on vacation, but here's chapter one!**

**Chapter 1: The Thirteenth Birthday**

"Ello, Sweetie!" I sang, using the name my mother had given the TARDIS, only adding a little personal touch by only saying "ello" instead of "hello." "Do you know what today is?" _Yes, of course_. The TARDIS replied telepathically. _Your thirteenth birthday. _"Yup," I said, emphasizing the "p."

Over the last eight years, I got a present from the TARDIS for each of my birthdays. A lot of the time, I got lonely, and not much goes on in a TARDIS, so I would spend most of my time teaching myself to read in the library with the swimming pool, asking the TARDIS about my past, or even looking for new rooms I've never seen before. Don't get me wrong, there is _loads_ to do on the TARDIS, but I definitely got bored once in a while, what with no one to talk to. So birthdays are a big plus, because I always get a present from Mum.

In my early years, the gift was a little note from mom, each one telling me how much she would miss me and then telling me a little bit about Dad's special past adventures, how to control the TARDIS, and sometimes even telling me about myself. I remember the story of when dad first met Amy Pond, when he had to separate from Rose Tyler...Mum said Dad told her some of the stories of his past regenerations, too. Since I am half human, half time lady, there are many things to know about me.

For instance, I grow within my regenerations until I'm fully grown, so around thirty or so...I've had the same appearance for years: Emerald eyes, light brown hair, and always wearing my traditional blue beret.

On my tenth birthday, I was given the usual note; only it was longer and included a diary. Mum said I would need it later to record my adventures. I've been using it only a little, because I know I'll use it soon...hopefully.

On my eleventh birthday, the usual longer note, and then three new books Mum had written for me, two of them were short books about flying and repairing the TARDIS. The weird thing was neither of them told me how to actually _start_ the whole time traveling thing. The other one was about some species of aliens that existed in the world. Each was in the format of a diary entry. Funny how the date they were written is in the future, and not the past...I still can't quite figure that one out.

For my twelfth birthday, last year, I was given yet _another _long note from my mother, explaining what I'm doing here. She said "Sweetie" would explain almost everything on my thirteenth birthday, but she wanted me to know that she wrote all these notes in one day, each note being a "mini lesson" in life, and that all these mini lessons lead up to one thing: My thirteenth birthday, the day my adventure would _really _start. Mum had also given me a physic card. How she obtained that, I will never know.

And now, it is my thirteenth birthday. _Finally. _

"So, Sweetie, what'cha got for me this time?" I asked plainly, trying to contain my excitement. The little storage compartment I was standing by opened, and out popped a little package. I looked at it for a few seconds; adding some dramatic effect, until Sweetie finally said, _Open it. _

I slowly opened the little box, and the first thing I saw was a note. Slowly tearing it open, out fell a little folded piece of paper, which said:

_Have Fun. Find your father and I. _

_Love you,_

_Mum._

A lone tear dripped down my face, but I quickly wiped it away. Opening the folded paper up, there was a picture of a blue lever, and an arrow pointing to it. Under the arrow were the words "Start up lever. Sweetie will know where to go."

"**ALRIGHT!**" I exclaimed. "Time to find Mum and Dad! Go on some adventures, have some fun!" _There's something else in the box_, Sweetie said. I picked the little package off of the floor, and out dropped something into my hand. As I turned it over in my hands, my eyes widened. "A-A sonic screwdriver..." I whispered in awe, putting it in my pocket. "Oh _yeah!_" I exclaimed that part, and then said, "Sweetie, we can go! We can travel around, go on adventures, I'll search for Mum and Dad, and maybe even make some friends, yeah?" _Just flick the switch. _Sweetie told me. I circled the TARDIS's control panels and finally found the correct blue switch, taking one last glance around the console room, and flicked it.

All at once, the TARDIS lurched, spun around, and dropped. "_**WHOO HOO!"**_I exclaimed, unable to hide my excitement. I _am _technically a reckless teenager now, after all. "Where are we going?" I asked Sweetie. _To London, _Sweetie replied. _The first encounter your father had with Amy Pond. _I smiled at the mention of Amy's name. I had heard a few stories of her and Rory Williams, and they both sounded like fantastic people. Maybe I would get the chance to have a companion, too.

Suddenly, the whole dizzy and lurching motions stopped, and a _fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh _noise followed. I laughed a happy, excited laugh, and asked Sweetie, "What do I do now?" _Find the Doctor. Go on adventures. Do what Time Lords and Ladies do. Save the world. _"Yeah, I like the sound of that...goodbye, Sweetie! Be back later!"

Oh I do so love having a TARDIS. They are truly wonderful.

I flung open Sweetie's doors, and stepped out into the night air. I was in the middle of the forest, but through the trees I could just barely see what I think is Amy Pond's house.

Suddenly, my TARDIS made a weird noise, and I whipped around to look at it.

Oh crap. Isn't the TARDIS _supposed _to change with the chameleon circuit? Why is it still a London telephone booth?

I flung the doors back open, sighed, and asked Sweetie, "Why haven't you changed into something...oh, I don't know...foresty?" I put air quotations around the word "foresty." _Sorry. It seems the Chameleon Circuit go stuck. That happens sometimes. _"Joy," I muttered, and exited the TARDIS again. "My father's TARDIS is a police box. Mine is a telephone booth. This whole 'chameleon circuit jam' must run in the family..."

Traveling to the edge of the forest, I peeked out of the trees, and gasped at what I saw. There they were. My father and Amy Pond.

Dad was wearing a dirty, ripped blue shirt with a tie, and Amy was wearing a nightgown with a sweater over it. They looked even...better, for lack of word, than I imagined.

I almost ran out of my hiding spot and hugged Dad, but then a thought dawned on me: He and River Song don't know who I am. I'll explain it to them some day, but really all I want to do now is just sit back and watch how my father acts and stuff.

At first, he started obsessing over food. I secretly watched from the window, and could hear them talking because it was open. Dad wanted apples, yogurt, bacon, buttered bread...the list goes on. I thought this would be the perfect scene on a comedy show.

And then, finally, he found the perfect snack: Fish sticks and custard. I love him already. That combination is brilliant; I _adore _custard.

I wondered what regeneration he was on...Mom first met him on his tenth, but he looks different than she described him as, so this must be his _eleventh_ regeneration. "Holy cow!" I whispered. Big mistake.

Just as Amy and the Doctor turned to face the window, I quickly ducked down. I could've sworn Dad and I just barely made eye contact, but I sure hope not. "Did you hear that?" Amy asked. Dad didn't reply. I'm going to guess he just nodded. "Speaking of voices, let's go check that crack in your wall, yes?" That's when he spoke. I smiled; glad they hadn't discovered me quite yet.

It was then I realized I still had twelve more years to wait, because little Amy had to grow up, and Dad had to go on his "five minute" TARDIS test drive. Of course, I do have a TARDIS that can skip twelve years ahead...so it shouldn't be a _huge _problem, should it?

I was still under the window, so I stood up to begin to dash back to the forest. I knew that soon dad would have to leave, so I ran back to my TARDIS, who still hadn't fixed the Chameleon Circuit jam, and practically skipped inside.

"Oh, Sweetie, that was so cool!" I squealed like a little girl. "Dad is perfect. Just as I imagined him. But now, of course, we have to skip twelve years ahead..." _Do you think you can handle setting the coordinates? _Sweetie asked me. "Um, yeah?" I replied, a little unsure of how well it would go. "I can try..."

I pulled down the blue lever from Mum's picture, and once again, the TARDIS lurched, spun around, and dropped. I laughed, and punched in some numbers and pushed some buttons here and there, until I finally heard the _fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh _noise again, and I knew we had landed.

"Did I get the right date?" I asked Sweetie. _Yes, _She replied. _Wrong spot and time, though. _"Oh, whatever," I sighed. "See ya later, Sweetie!"

I flung open my TARDIS's doors, and stepped out into a bright, sunny day in the middle of town, near a little duck pond. I knew I was still in the place the "Prisoner Zero" adventure took place, because I had read over the setting Mum had written about a _lot. _

I took a little look around before completely stepping out of the TARDIS, and laughed when I saw Rory Williams, standing in the park, still in his nurse uniform. It was the kind of laugh you get with an "Oh my gosh that's so freaky!" experience. But something was a little wrong with this picture...

I observed Rory carefully, using every fiber of my Time Lady being to figure out what was wrong. After examining Rory, I moved on to the rest of the park. That's when I saw a man with his dog, just standing there; doing nothing, and it hit me.

"Pictures," I murmured, and began to sprint towards Rory. "R-SIR!" I shouted, correcting myself at the last minute when I realized he'd be confused by how I knew his name. He glanced my way, and then when Rory realized I was shouting to _him, _he turned around to face me just as I reached him. "Uh," I started. "Isn't that guy from the hospital?" I asked. Rory looked carefully at the man with his dog, and then replied, "Hm...Yeah, I think he is. Strange. How'd you know that?" Whoops. Didn't think about that part.

Thankfully though, I have a fast brain, and I pulled out my physic card, showed it to him, and said, "Uh, I'm part of the volunteering for teens program at the hospital." _Yeah, that works, _I thought. Rory nodded. "We must work on different days..." He murmured. Wow, I'm _so _lucky there actually is a volunteering program at his hospital.

Finally, Rory pulled out his phone, and took a picture of the guy. I sighed, and then said, "Well, uh, I've got to go...I'll see you later..." I dashed off before he replied. Too bad I didn't notice a certain blue-eyed boy, watching me from the distance...

• • •

**Hmm...A little of a cliffhanger there! Sorry, and you're going to have to wait a week (maybe) until the next chapter! Unfortunately, this chapter was a little bit shorter than I would've liked it to be, but that's how it works. :( Sorry! **


	3. Chapter 2: Dusk

**AH, I'm SO sorry I've been gone so long! My vacation place had NO Internet connection. It sucked. But I'm really into this book now, so updates should come faster. WHOO HOO!**

**You may find this chapter a little similar to Rose and Jack's first encounter...I couldn't help it, I love that part! By the way, the • • • symbol represents time moving forward. It will for the rest of the story, too. Also, this story will **_**most likely **_**(Okay, definitely) veer away from the t.v. show a little. That's just to make things a little more interesting.**__** Oh yeah, and so I don't forget: DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who. **_**Also, **_**there are now pictures for ****The Forgotten Child ****on my profile! Check them out! Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter Two: Dusk**

I watched from a distance as my dad and the now grown up Amy talked to Rory, who had now taken several pictures of people, thanks to me. Funny how things work out like that, huh? Especially because there must have been some _other _cause of why he started taking pictures in my father's-without-me time, because I wasn't there before...so _did _I just re-write time? Hm, this is a little more complicated than I thought it would be...

I really don't know what else I can do here, except watch as my dad saves the world. I know I should tell him I'm his daughter, but why should he believe me? I'll have to prove it to him somehow...

So I begin to walk back to my TARDIS, a little troubled by what I'm supposed to be doing in this world. I mean, I know Mum wants me to go on my own adventures, but where do I start? How did Dad know where to start, anyways? I don't remember hearing any stories about that.

I don't really pay much attention to how my head feels a little dizzy all of the sudden, and why my arm is a little tingly. I just keep wondering about what I'm _supposed _to do. Maybe I have to go around saving people, like my dad?

All of this is running through my head when suddenly someone grabs me, and puts their hand on my mouth. I kick a little, but know I'll be able to get out of whatever trap this human has for me...at least, I think. Besides, they don't _feel _too strong.

And then, like that, they just drop me. I stumble a little before standing straight, and turning around to face my "attacker." My eyes widen when I realize that the "attacker" is a boy, probably my age, with sapphire colored eyes and light brown, sort of messy hair, but I think it's supposed to look like that. He's wearing a black vest type of thing, with an orange t-shirt underneath, and some ripped skinny jeans. The guy is actually kind of cute. Oops, I'm not supposed to think like that...he _did _"kidnap" me, after all.

As we stare at each other in silence, I wonder why he all of the sudden let me go. That's when he says, "Why aren't you running?" "That's not exactly how you should introduce yourself, you know...after all, you _did _just grab me off the street and drag me to a 'dark' alley." I put quotations around the word "dark." "But, to answer your question, why exactly _should _I run? Am I in any danger?" The boy shook his head, and replied, "No, not really..." "Then why _did _you bring me here?" I asked, and my eyebrows rose. "Because you _were _in danger!" The boy exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "From what, or who?" I asked. "Didn't you see it? Or feel its heat, or something?" The boy questioned, bewildered. "No...What?" I asked. "There was a fire, right behind you...It was kind of in the shape of a snake," The boy replied, looking at me like I was crazy. "You sure you didn't see it?" I nodded. "Weird...but, anyways, why did you put your hand over my mouth and then _drag _me here?" "Heh," The boy started. "I don't have the best reputation around here, so if you had drawn attention to me by screaming...this wouldn't have ended well. D-Don't you know who I am, anyways? Everyone local does." I shook my head. "I'm not exactly a local girl," I muttered. He didn't hear, but then I questioned, "Who are you? What's your name?"

"Why should I tell you?" He asked. "Cause I asked, and it's polite," I replied, rolling my eyes. "Who are _you?_" The guy retorted. "Ha!" It was a humorless laugh. "Like I'd tell you. You're a complete stranger." "Touché," He replied. We glared at each other, and then suddenly, I heard voices coming form the end of the alley. "Hey, you! Stay where you are!" "Boss, isn't that Dusk?" "Yeah, it is! After 'em!" "Come on," The boy muttered, grabbing me, once again, and pulling me to the very back of the alley. "What are you doing?" I whispered.

Okay, so maybe I'm a Time Lady, and I'm supposed to be awesome and be able to get out of everything, but one: I can't help being curious. Two: What do you do when you can't get out of someone's grasp? I _am _only thirteen, and not very strong. I'm also half human, you can't forget that.

The boy, who I _assume _is possibly named "Dusk," continued to pull me toward the back of the alley, until we hit a dumpster bin. He opened the lid, and I whispered, "You're kidding, right?" "_No_, I'm emptying my trash. Yes, I'm serious! Don't worry, they haven't used this thing in years, and it's the only way out," Dusk replied. _Out? _I wondered, but didn't say anything, because the guards were coming.

Dusk jumped in, and I followed. Then, I realized what _out _was. In the corner of the dumpster, there was a large hole through the dumpster _and _the brick wall behind it, just big enough for a person to fit through on their stomach.

Once Dusk was out, I followed. We broke out into a little neighborhood, but I knew we were by the hospital, because I saw Dad and Amy, ironically, walking by. I wondered if he would _ever _notice me.

"Come on, we're not safe...yet," Dusk muttered, and he continued to pull me through the neighborhood, until we came to a broken down looking house.

The house was pale blue, and very small. I'm not even sure if it was a house...to me, it looked kind of like a "shack." There was only one window and a door, as far as I could see, and the roof had several holes in it.

"Home sweet home," Dusk said, and then he sighed. "This is where you _live_?" I exclaimed. "SHH!" He put a finger to his lips. "They could still be nearby." "This is where you _live?_" I whispered. Dusk rolled his eyes, and pulled my arm, _again. _"I can walk, you know," I murmured. "I know," He replied. This time, _I _rolled my eyes.

Dusk opened the door, and led me inside.

It was a simple house: There was only one separate room from the main room, which I guessed was the bathroom. In one corner, there was a bed, along with a little mat on the floor. In the other corner was what looked like a kitchen, with one tiny table and two wooden chairs.

He sat down, and I followed. "Explain," was all I said. "Why?" He asked. "Cause I know your name, and if you don't tell me, I'll report you to the police." I replied, pulling out my physic card. "Elizabeth Smith, co-detective for the police. I volunteer there in my free time."

Dusk stared at the paper blankly, and replied, "Uh, there's nothing on that card..." My eyes widened, and I flipped it around. Sure enough, the paper was blank. "Hm," I murmured. "Weird...crap. You caught me. Okay, so I don't work for the police, but I can tell you've got dirt, so spill." Dusk laughed, and then said, "I'll tell you my name if you say yours." "Already did," I laughed. "Elizabeth Smith." "Sure," He rolled his eyes. "I play poker with thugs. I _know _you're lying."

Darn, this guy is tough. "Okay, I know your name is Dusk. Or at least, that's your code name. And the police are after you, so...you're a...thief? Yeah! You _are _a thief! Oh, I like it! Someone with some tricks up their sleeves. But tell me, why _do _you steal?" Dusk stared at me like I was crazy, but I'm _sure _I've got this whole thief suspicion right. I've got my two hearts set on it. And Time Lady and Lord's brains are awesome.

"Fine," Dusk groaned, caving in. "I'm a thief. A fourteen-year-old thief. I steal because I have to. Look around, isn't it obvious? I mean, I have no parents, or any relatives, for that matter, my house is a wreck, and the police are after me. It's not like I hurt anyone, and I don't steal huge stuff...just food, and sometimes money, but only if I _really_ needit. I don't know why the police make such a huge deal of it." We stare at each other in silence for a minute, and there's a small smile on my lips. "You're not scared of me, are you?"

And that is when my hearts melt with pity a little.

"No. I'm not. I shouldn't be, should I?" My voice was quiet, and I stared into Dusk's eyes. "I wish you would tell me your name. I won't turn you in." "J-Jason," He finally said. "Alright, time for me to explain," I sighed while shrugging, figuring I'd have to do this eventually. "See, I-"OPEN UP!" A voice boomed from outside.

"Cops," Jason muttered. "C'mon." This time, thankfully, Jason didn't grab me, but he did gesture for me to come with him. "You didn't think I would have a house without a secret exit, did you?" He pulled off the mat by his bed, and under was a "trap door." "Cool," I whispered.

He jumped down, and I followed. The secret exit was a tunnel, just big enough for us to run in a single file. It began to rise, until we finally came to a "plank" covering up the top. "Quiet," Jason told me, and I nodded. "No dip Sherlock," I muttered. Even _I _know that we were probably going to come up in some random place with people surrounding us.

Jason opened the top, and sure enough, I was right. Only it wasn't just _any _people. It was the police. "Crap," I muttered. One of them pulled out a gun, and shot it at our hands, where glowing, green handcuffs appeared.

_Wait a second, _I thought. _That technology isn't supposed to happen for another fifty years! _Jason looked just as stumped as I did. "Up against the car!" One of the officers yelled. While they inspected me, I asked, "Hey, where exactly did you get these handcuffs?" "That's classified," One of them replied. "Classified? _Classified?_" I spat. "Sure, sure. Classified for me? Pull out the card in my back pocket would you, and read it out loud." One of the officers pulled the card from my pocket, and I concentrated very hard. "Elizabeth Smith, Age thirteen, co-detective for the police. Volunteer." "Yup," I said, emphasizing the "p." Once again, luck is with me, because one of them said, "Hey, this must be the boss's kid, Lizzie Smith!" "Yes," I spat. "Now would you let me go so I can go and take this _kid _to the police station?" "S-Sure," The officer stuttered, and I felt the handcuffs on my wrists disappear. "Are you sure you don't need help bringing him to the station?" "No, I'm fine," I replied.

Jason glared at me, and I guessed he must thought I betrayed him, so I only winked without the officers noticing. "Okay, see you later, fellas," I giggled, smiling. I stayed where I was as they drove away.

As soon as they were gone, I sighed. "_That_ was close." "I thought you said you wouldn't turn me in?" Jason exploded, as he tried to get the handcuffs off. "Yes, I did say that," I replied. "And then I winked. And I lied. But, I also didn't lie. Don't you get it?" Jason shook his head, confused. "Well, have you ever _seen _technology like that in your lifetime? Where the handcuffs just _appear?_" Jason, once again, shook his head. "Exactly. So you're my ticket into the jail, so that I can check out where they got that stuff, and then I'll just…" I pulled out my sonic screwdriver, turned it on, and heard the lock on his handcuffs click. Jason's eyes widened. "Let you go. But for now," The lock clicked again. "It has to stay locked. Sorry." "How do I know you won't betray me, and just let them have me?" Jason asked, glaring. "Trust me," I said quietly. "I know what it's like to be alone for a while and it's not fun. And what do I have to gain from you? I don't get a reward, and I would lose a-" I broke off. I was about to say _friend, _but I don't know if Jason even likes me. So I substituted. "An ally."

Jason glared at me, and sighed. "Fine," He muttered. _As if you have a choice, _I thought. I started to pull him towards town, down to the police station. He directed me there, and the whole way, I was half-smiling when he wasn't looking at me. Sometimes he would randomly point out a landmark, once he even commented on the duck pond. We would talk a little, but never too much, because I think he's still mad at me.

But still, I think I'm pretty sure I've made an "ally."

• • •

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" One of the officers asked. "That's okay, guys," I replied. "I'm just going to lock him in a cell and then call my dad about what we're going to do with him."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"Yup."

Finally, Jason and I had made it to the police station, and I was leading him down the hall of jail cells. "Are you sure about this? What if they figure us out?" Jason whispered. "Do you trust me?" I ask. He hesitated, and then nodded. "Good. But always remember, because your life may depend on it one day, that I am a crazy girl with crazy plans. Most of them work out, though. Well, at least, I _think._" "What _is _your plan, exactly?" Jason asked. "Uh, get in one of the jail cells, inspect it a little, pretend to lock it with you in it, and if I don't find anything by then, I'll find the room with all the cameras and watch some recordings…I really just need to figure out where they got that technology from."

Jason nodded, and we finally reached an empty jail cell. Slowly walking inside, I looked around the room. It was empty, except for a cot and a toilet in the corner. I shuddered at that thought.

Eventually, I pulled out my sonic screwdriver, and flicked it on, scanning the walls for some sort of alien technology. It led me to the next jail cell.

I whipped around to face the neighboring cell, and saw two men in future police uniforms. "Oi!" I said. "You got some alien tech?" The officers turned to face me, and I smirked slightly. "Maybe," One of them, tall and thin, replied. "What's it to you?" "Where are you from?" I wondered aloud. "How did you get here?" Both statements were very quiet, so I responded louder, "I can get you home, if you tell me. You're not from here, I assume?" Tall and thin's eyes widened, and he shook his head. "We're from, oh, fifty years in the future." I felt Jason tense a little next to me, and I thought, _Yes! I was right! _"That's what I thought. Just tell me how you got here, and I'll bring you home. Trust me."

Tall and thin guy looked at short and stubby guy, and I heard them whisper a little. Finally, tall and thin turned to face me. "Who are you?" He asked. "Elizabeth Smith," I explained. "I'm a time detective. Did you bring those future hand cuff guns, too?" Tall and thin dude nodded. "We were just about to arrest a prisoner, when all of the sudden, we were…swallowed, by this red fiery crack thing. Me and Carl," He gestured to short and stubby guy, who I guess is Carl. "Were in this big, white space, when all of the sudden there was this big, green alien thing that passed, and we were kind of…spit out of the crack, and we landed here. It was right by some cops, and they arrested us when they saw we were 'impersonating' police."

My eyes narrowed slightly at his explanation, and I hesitated before saying, "Draw it." "Huh?" Carl asked. "The crack thing. Here, use this," I threw him a pen, which I always keep in one of my jean pockets.

Carl began to etch something in the wall, and I walked over to their jail cell, and Jason immediately followed. When he was done, Carl stepped aside, and I looked at the drawing. Jason gasped. I raised an eyebrow at him, so he explained, "That's the red fiery snake! The thing that was behind you today!" I examined the "snake" closely. There were several bumps and some dips and edges in it, but the shape looked like a little dip. "Looks more like a crack to me," I murmured. "You sure that's it?" Jason nodded. "And you say it was red?" I questioned Carl, tall and thin dude, and Jason. All of them nodded. "Huh," I whispered. "Strange."

I looked at tall and thin dude's nametag, and saw that it said Dave. "So, Dave, Carl?" I began. "Before I take you home, I need you to help me. I'm guessing you want to get those handcuffs back?" They nodded. "Okay, good. I can help you do that, on one condition: You tell me whom you were going to arrest. And don't say it's classified, because it's probably all over the news, anyway. Plus, I'm your only ticket home." Carl and Dave exchanged a glance, and Dave shrugged. "Fine," He groaned. "We were going to arrest a woman named River Song." My eyes widened only slightly. I knew Mum got arrested sometimes, but it was _these _policemen that attempted to do it? I can't believe I'm helping them.

Despite my new slight hostility, I nodded. "Thanks." Now, I closed my eyes, and tried to remember what the entrance of the police station looked like: A door, a front desk, some hooks on the sides with some extra gear…ah _hah! _So that must be where the handcuff guns are. "Hey guys!" I shouted. Jason, Dave, and Carl flinched. "I'm going to go now! Everyone's locked up!" I focused on listening to where their reply came from, and hoped my plan would work. "Okay, Lizzie! Have a good day!" All right, so they aren't in the main entrance. So far, so good.

"You two," I whispered, and flicked my gaze at Dave and Carl. "Be as quiet as _silence. _And I mean _silence. _Jason, I need you to carry me to the corner of the hallway. Dave, Carl, you follow." Jason raised an eyebrow, and I quietly explained, "To make it sound like there's only one pair of footsteps." Jason nodded, and then murmured, "Can you get these handcuffs off?" I smiled, and then pulled out my sonic screwdriver. Pointing it at the handcuffs, I flicked the switch, and they disappeared. Jason stretched his hands and fingers out a little, and then crouched down. I "mounted" his back, and then we were off. Jason's footsteps were quiet, but I'm sure the policemen could hear them. Thankfully, Carl and Dave were silent except for their almost mute breaths.

Eventually, we made it to the end of the hallway, and I got off of Jason. Putting a finger to my lips, I jumped off of his back. Then I peeked around the corner.

_Crap, _I thought, seeing the single security guard at the front desk. Turning around to face Jason, I murmured in his ear, "There's one out there. Tell Carl and Dave to take the guns and run. Lead them to where you first saw me, I'll catch up." Jason nodded, and silently passed on the message to Carl and Dave.

I strolled into the main room, and said to the guy at the front desk, "Hey, thanks for letting me come and put Dusk where he belongs. But unfortunately, I've got to _run now._" I put an emphasis on those words, and tested to see if I could distract him any longer. "But I'll talk to my dead about you, and ask about a promotion. You guys did well today, tracking us down like-"Hey, what are you-"_Sorry, _gotta run!" I saw Carl, Dave, and Jason dash out of the police station. I tried to follow, but the officer grabbed my hand, and cried, "Wait, you're not Lizzie!" "_Finally, _you notice!" I exclaim. "Sorry for the short visit, but I've really got to go!" I pulled out my sonic screwdriver with some difficulty, but manage to turn it on and burn his hand slightly. He lets me go with a small cry of pain. "_Really _sorry!" I say again, sprinting outside before he can grab me again.

My breaths are coming out in short gasps, and I can just barely see the three specks of Jason, Carl, and Dave in front of me. Thankfully, I remember where I'm going because of the landmarks Jason pointed out. It also helps that he's ahead of me if I need at hint.

Glancing behind me, I can't see any policemen. Maybe they just don't care...at least, I hope. I know I'm getting close to my TARDIS now, because Carl, Dave, and Jason are becoming bigger specs, and I can see the duck pond from here.

After running a bit more, I finally reach all three of them, and we're breathing our guts out as we gasp for air. "Nice...job...guys," I panted. We stood there in silence, while I kept glancing behind to see if the police were following us. Still no sign of them.

Jason had plopped onto the floor, mumbling something about 'craziest idea ever.' "Shut up," I muttered, nudging him with my foot. I finally caught my breath (having two hearts to pump blood definitely has its advantages), and looked at Carl and Dave. "Well, thanks for your help. Looks like I need to take you home now, huh?" They nodded. "Okay, I hope you guys don't faint easily, because this is going to _amaze _you. Just saying. Jason, stay here. I'll, uh, be back..."

I opened the door to my TARDIS, and walked inside. I heard Carl mutter to Dave, "Do ya think it's big enough in there? What's she going to do, anyways? Take us back in a time machine? And where did she go? I can't see her in the windows..." "Aw, would you just shut _up _and get _in _here!" I cried. Then, quietly, I said, "Ello, Sweetie. We've got some visitors." _Hello, Dawn Melody. I'm excited to meet them. _

I couldn't wait to see Carl and Dave's expressions as they walked through the door. I practically skipped up the stairs to the main console, and then whipped around to face them. "Welcome to the TARDIS." I smirked as their eyes grew wide, and their jaws dropped. "Th-This thing," Carl stuttered. "What-"It's a time machine," I interrupted. "Now, would you do me a favor and tell me the exact date and time you came from?" "Th-The thirteenth of July, fifty years forward," Dave replied. "Thanks," I murmured, pulling Sweetie's lever and pushing the corresponding buttons to the date that Dave told me.

Eventually, I heard the _fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh _noise, and I knew the TARDIS landed (Not without the lurch, jolt, and drop though, of course). "Thanks, Sweetie," I murmured. "Okay, off you go then. Enjoy the rest of your life. And don't get swallowed by any cracks, you hear?" I shooed Dave and Carl away with my hands, and they left.

"One last stop," I whispered, pulling on a bike handle and spinning a top. "Sweetie, I met a boy today. I think he's my new friend. Do you think he'll want to come with us? You know, a companion, like Amy, and Rory, and people like them?" _I don't know, Dawn Melody. We'll just have to wait and see._

"Yes, I suppose you're right..." I trailed off, my voice a little depressed. I've been so lonely for the last eight years...I really hope Jason wants to come with me.

Taking a deep breath in, I creak the doors of my TARDIS open, and see Jason, waiting there for me. "Hey," I smile at him. He smiles back, and replies, "You were only gone ten seconds. What did you do?" I sighed, and stared at the ground. "Would you believe me if I said I had a time machine?" I blurted, and then covered my mouth with my hand. Whoops. That wasn't supposed to come out quite like that.

Jason stared at the ground, and then almost whispering, replied, "Would you believe me if I said yes?" My face broke into a happy expression, and I was grinning from ear to ear. "Well then," I whisper back. "Would you like to come and see?" Jason looked up, and I opened the door to my TARDIS a little wider to let him in.

I close the door behind me once we're both inside, and his eyes are the size of saucers. "Wow," Jason whispers. "This is amazing." I dash up the steps to the console. "Yeah, it is," I reply, and giggle. "And you're lucky, because you're the first person I've met for eight years outside of this thing. Strange, huh?" "You stayed in here for eight _years?" _Jason exclaimed, and I nodded. "Yeah. It's a _lot _bigger than this, trust me. There's my bedroom, the console room, three kitchens, four bathrooms, a ton of living rooms, a library that has a swimming pool in it, a guest room..." I stop when it comes to guest room. "Why do you have a guest room?" Jason asked. "In case someone wants to come explore this wonderful, amazing, perfect, incredible universe with me," I explain, not looking up from the controls on the TARDIS. "My dad travels like this, too. He looks at it just like I do. I've read countless books over the years, I know crazy things, things your mind might not even be capable of imagining...but it's real."

There are a few moments of awkward silence between us. Suddenly, Jason says, "You aren't human, are you?" I shake my head. "No, I'm not. I'm from a planet called Gallifrey. My mother is human, my father is Gallafreyan. How did you guess?" "I'm not sure," Jason replies, shrugging. "But you _look _human." "And _you _look Gallifreyan," I laugh, using one of my father's lines. "Really, the only differences between us, besides the obvious stuff, are that I have two hearts, and I can die thirteen times. Each time I just change appearances." Jason looked at me, bewildered. "Do you believe me?" I ask quietly.

Jason doesn't say anything for what feels like a lifetime. Or maybe it was just a few heartbeats, I can't be sure. "Yes," He finally says. "I do. When I was very, _very _young, and my mum was still alive, she told me, 'Jason, did you know that your grandfather loved the stars? He would stare out into the night sky, all the time. He told me once that there are different planets out there, and one day, the human race would discover them.'" He paused before going on. "My grandfather was the most amazing man. It seemed he could _always _make me feel better; always heal my aches and pains, even when my parents weren't there to do so. And then one day, he just disappeared. Just like that." I saw a tear on Jason's cheek, but I decided not to comment.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. "I'm so, so sorry."

We both just stand there, and my eyes begin to water, and my heart aches for Jason. "I know what it feels like, to grow up alone. My only friends were the countless books and stories I read, and good ol' Sweetie here. And then there were the stars, out there, all alone. I've been waiting for someone to come and talk to me, someone to laugh with, to cry with, and-well, you get the picture."

And then, finally, he said it: "Can I come?" I began to laugh, to uncontrollably laugh. "Yes, yes, yes, and yes!" I cried. "You can most definitely come! We can go on adventures, and find my parents, and...Yeah." I rushed up to Jason and hugged him, but then leaped back. "Whoops, sorry. A little bit excited, heh heh." We both just smiled, and then Jason finally said, "Uh, I'm going to need to go home and get some clothes and-"No need," I interrupted. "The TARDIS has a whole closet, and not to mention you get your own bathroom that's fully stocked." "Okay." Jason begins to rock back and forth on his heels.

I skip back to the console, and begin to press buttons. "What are you doing?" Jason asked. "Uh, I'm setting coordinates to go to a planet called Vipera, home of the Mazai. They're known for their features that are similar to snakes. The look sort of like humans, only all of them are skinny, tall, and red. Not to mention their crazy long tongues and how their jaws can unhook. But, yes, very similar to humans. And harmless, unless they're hungry," I explained. "How do you know all of this?" Jason questioned. "It's probably somewhere in those diaries my mum wrote for me," I replied.

"By the way," I began. "Do you want me to call you Dusk, or Jason?" "Um, Dusk. But if you really want to get my attention, call me Jason," He replied. "And while we're on this topic, what do I call _you?_" I hesitated, and then smiled. "We match," I giggled. "My name is Dawn Melody. But you can call me Dawn."

Dusk smiled. "Now that that's over with...let's go explore this magnificent galaxy! Hold on!" I exclaim. Sweetie lurches, jolts, and drops again. "I've really got to get better at driving this thing. _I'm _not _a thing! _Sweetie yells to my brain. "Oops. Yeah, sorry!" I giggle. _Fa-whoosh, Fa-whoosh. _

"What's that?" Dusk asked. "I leave the brakes on when we land...the noise lets me know when we're on the ground." Dusk nodded, and I stepped down to the base platform. "Come on, now, let's go!"

Flinging the doors of the TARDIS open, Dusk and I step out into the world of Vipera.

• • •

**Woot! It's done! Little does Dawn know of the dangers to come, though...mu ha ha! :) Okay, I hope you liked this chapter, sorry it's SO long! And I didn't edit too much because I was in a HUGE rush to get this done for you!**


	4. Chapter 3: The beginning of adventures

**Ello wonderful people reading my story! I have a feeling you will like this chapter, especially because Dawn views her life differently, and she knows what she's supposed to do now. Also, Dawn and Dusk become pretty good friends, and you've **_**gotta **_**love Time Lady/Companion relationships. I just hope Dusk doesn't die in the end...MU HA HA! Only I know the answer! :) Oh yeah, the POV (Point of View) may change from Dawn's to Dusk's from time to time. Anyway...Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: The beginning of the beginning of adventures**

"So, why exactly are we here, again?" Dusk asked. We were walking deeper into the forest of Vipera. "Well, as I said before, the Mazai are known for their snake like qualities, and how they are red. And you said that the crack looked like a red snake. I'm just wondering if maybe the Mazai have something to do with it," I explained while pushing a long branch out of my way. I didn't hold it for Dusk though, and it ended up hitting him in the face. "Thanks a ton, Dawn," He muttered. "No problem!" I giggled. It was nice to have someone to tease and talk to again.

We kept walking for a while, until we finally broke out of the forest into a large clearing. But the clearing wasn't, well, clear. Instead, there were several huts made of grass, mud, and rocks. Several Mazai children were playing catch in the middle of the "camp," and other Mazai women were weaving baskets. In the distance were more trees, and behind those I could see a huge, mysterious looking mountain.

When one of the women saw Dusk and I, she rushed to one of the huts, and about five seconds later, a Mazai man came out. He was tall and skinny, just like all the other Mazai, and was wearing some type of "armor" made of leather. It was only on his chest, but he also wore some type of shorts.

The man approached Dusk and I with such grace I thought he was dancing. "Hello," He greeted, bowing slightly. I followed the gesture, and glanced at Dusk to suggest he should do so, also. The man's voice was sort of like a hiss, and his English wasn't too clear, but I could understand. "Hello," I replied quietly. "I am-"Dawn, and your friend is Dusk. Yes, we have met before," The man interrupted. "W-We have?" I stuttered. "Yes," The man replied. "My past, your future." I nodded, and guessed I must visit him later in my life, but at a different time period. "Dawn and Dusk, a pair in time..." The man stated, a far off look in his eyes. Dusk and I snorted at the same time. "Pair? _Pair?_" Dusk laughed. "Yeah, we're just..." I trailed off. "Friends," Dusk finished. I flashed him a grateful smile, glad we were on the same page.

"And you are also friends of us. You are welcome to stay here as long as you wish. Though things are not as peaceful as they once were," The man sighed. "But that is a dreary topic. My name is Marlon. Please, if you need anything, let me know. My wife, Leia, will make you comfortable." I noticed that a Mazai woman had appeared, and she must be Leia. "Thanks," I replied, bowing. Marlon returned the gesture, and then left.

"Come on, then!" Leia exclaimed. She had long, black hair that was in a braid, and big, brown eyes. She was wearing a brown tank top of some sorts, but it had several holes in the bottom. Leia was also wearing a long black skirt, with flower designs embroidered in it. "Can't have you standing out here in the heat all day! I'll show you to where you will stay."

While Leia led us to a hut, Dusk whispered, "Shouldn't we ask about the red snake?" "Eventually," I replied quietly. "No harm in getting to know, and trust, them first. The snake may be a touchy topic." Dusk nodded, and then we entered the hut.

It was cool on the inside, and there were two sacks that must be sleeping bags on the floor, as if they had prepared for us. There was also a pot of some liquid over a fire in the center of the hut, with a large hole in the roof for the smoke to vent out of.

"Thank you, Leia," I said. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," She replied, and bowed before leaving.

As soon as she was gone, I plopped on the floor, and held my head in my hands. "What's wrong?" I felt Dusk crouched next to me, his voice sounded a little worried. "I'm tired," I yawned. "And this is confusing me a little_. _No, scratch that. It's confusing me a _lot. _Why would a crack, or snake, or whatever be red? And why is it swallowing things up, and spitting them out? And in different times and places, too? I've never heard of these cracks, or anything like them...this is so confusing. Mum never mentioned them in any of the diary entries, stories...But I guess I should be careful of what I wish for. I mean, I wanted an adventure, and I got it, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else, so why-"Dawn," Jason interrupted, and he placed a hand on my shoulder. I was breathing a little faster now, and my head hurt. "Calm down. You're only human. Well, no you aren't, but you know what I mean. You're _half _human. And how old are you?" "Thirteen," I mumbled. "Ha! I'm older! But anyways, you're only thirteen, what do you expect? Are you trying to save the world all by yourself? How do we know the cracks are even a threat?"

Dusk was right, and I knew it. The human part of me was being worn out by the Time Lady part, and I wasn't being careful. I'm sure that being out and about is very overwhelming to my human half, because I haven't been outside the TARDIS for eight years.

"How about you take a little rest? Then you'll have enough energy until night, and you can get on the right sleeping schedule," Dusk suggested. "Okay," I yawned. "Will you stay?" "Of course," Dusk replied. "Where would I go without you? You're the one who knows everything about these people, I know nothing." Sleep was starting to take control, so I snuggled myself into one of the sleeping bags. But before I drowned into darkness, I whispered, "I don't know _everything. _Just some."

I couldn't hear Dusk's reply though, because I was already fast asleep, and in a flurry of dreams.

• • •

"_Mum! Mum!" My brain cried for River Song. I missed her, even though my memories with her were limited. She was the only person I ever knew, and I didn't want to be alone. _

_My dream switched over, and I was sitting in the TARDIS. It was on my sixth birthday, when I barely knew why Mum had left me there, and I felt like she hated me. Then Sweetie explained some of it._

_Once again, my vision blurred, and I was now picturing the crack. I felt like it was laughing at me, which is very strange. Then, Dusk appeared in front of the crack. He was being swallowed, just like Dave and Carl. "No!" I wanted to cry, "Don't leave me alone again!" But my lips wouldn't move, and the image of Dusk, my new, and only, friend, was screaming, disappearing into the crack. _

_Now I was in a dark, cold place, on the floor, curled in a ball, looking helpless. When I saw Dusk next to me, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. He was okay._

_His hand was on my shoulder, his lips were moving slowly. Was that what I looked like in the hut? So small, helpless, and little? "You're only thirteen," I remembered Dusk saying. "Are you trying to save the world?" But that's the problem. I _do _want to save the world, just like my father has so many times. But is that too much for me? _

_My vision blurred to the picture of my dad with young Amelia eating fish sticks and custard, and the moment I thought our eyes met. "Dad!" I wanted to cry, but I'm still stuck under the darkness. "Please, believe me, I'm your daughter." But why should he believe me? Sure, I have two hearts, you can _feel _them both beating, but why would I be his daughter?_

_Suddenly, a piercing shriek was sent through my brain. The voice belonged to...me?_

I sat up abruptly. My breath was coming out in ragged breaths, and my cheeks were covered in sweat. "Dawn?" I heard Jason ask from beside me, in the other sleeping bag. "You okay?" I was _very _tempted to say, "No, I'm not okay, I just had a long line of bad dreams where you almost _died, _or something like that," but I restrained myself. Instead, I replied, "Y-Yes." My voice was dry and cracked, and all I wanted was something to drink. Dusk seemed to have read my thoughts, because he handed me a clay glass with water in it. "Leia dropped by about half an hour ago and brought it," He explained while I gulped the water. "Thanks," I gasped when I was done.  
We sat in silence for a few moments, until Dusk suddenly blurted, "Are you _sure _you're okay?" "Yes, why?" I asked calmly. "Well, while you were sleeping, I heard you say, 'Mum, mum,' and 'no, don't leave me,' and 'Dad,' and then you shrieked...and, also, well, you're crying," Dusk's voice grew quiet as he talked. "So it _was _my voice," I whispered. Then, I put a hand to my cheek, and found the "sweat" was actually tears. "Oh, uh, sorry...I was just having some, uh, bad dreams. I'm okay though." _No I'm not! _My brain yelled. _I need a hug! I'd like to see my mom, and make sure that you really _are _alive, and that _this _isn't the dream! _"Uh, can you pinch me?" I asked. Dusk raised an eyebrow, but after a moment, pinched me anyways. It stung a little, but the pain was soon gone. "M'kay, just wanted to make sure."

I tried to work on getting my breathing steady again. "What time is it?" I asked Dusk. "Oh, probably around four. You were asleep for about an hour," Dusk replied. "Thanks," I whispered.

We just sat in silence, Dusk's hand on my shoulder again, my breathing growing more and more regular. But I was okay, because Dusk was here and alive, my two hearts were still beating, and mum was...probably getting arrested right now, but at least she isn't dying.

After about five minutes, the "door" (It's really a long cloth that hangs from the ceiling) opened, and Marlon stepped in. "I sensed you had awakened," He explained. "And we must talk." I nodded, gesturing for him to continue. He sat on the floor, across from Dusk and I. "You want to know of the Red Snake prophecy. It does not have much to do with my people. All I can tell you is that it is not a snake. It is a crack in time and space. It also has a twin. Your father is chasing its blue brother."

I gasped, and it all came to me. "The crack in Amy's bedroom?" "Yes," Marlon nodded. "That is its twin. But the blue crack does not swallow you and spit you out. It erases people altogether, from time and space. The blue crack is the crack in space, the red is a crack in time." We were silent for a few seconds, and I had so many questions, so I started with one of the simplest: "You know my father?" "No," Marlon shook his head. "I know _of _him. Only because you told me in my past. You said: 'My father is chasing the blue crack, the crack of space. I chase the crack of time, or, at least, it chases me.' I only speak of what I know."

_A crack in time, _I thought. _Swallows you and spits you out in a different time and place. Just like Dave and Carl...They said a green thing passed by them, and then all the sudden they were...out? So one thing replaces another, and the process keeps going. The blue crack is a crack in space, and erases you from...well, space _and _time? So these two are twins, huh? Strange..._

"Next question," I continued. "Is that everything I told you? Was there anything else?" "No, that was not all," Marlon replied. "But some things should not be said yet, however I promise I will tell you later. I can give you this, though." He pulled out a piece of paper from a "pocket" in his armor. "It's a letter from the future you."

I unfolded the paper, and threw Dusk a glance that said don't-read-this. On the paper were these words:

_Dear past me,_

_Okay, so you might find this very strange...I remember the feeling when I read this sheet of paper. Anyways, here is what you need to know:_

_Don't worry about stuff, it all turns out pretty good eventually. There will be some bad times, though...I myself write you this letter in a time of searching and sadness. But I'm sure it will all turn out okay, because everything always does._

_**Don't **__tell Mum or Dad about yourself yet...they start to figure things out eventually. I like to use the word "Spoilers" when Dad asks me a question sometimes, like Mum. It's quite funny to watch his expression. Yes, you will see Dad in some of your adventures._

_Also, stay on the planet Vipera for a while, and help them solve their problems. The bad things that happen there will eventually lead to good, I promise._

_The journey is kind of hard when you're all by yourself, and you don't exactly have years of past knowledge like Dad did, isn't it? Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Also, tell Dusk I said hello. _

_From, _

_Future you_

_P.S. When you need a little reassurance on this adventure, fold this paper diagonally, then in half, and then in half again. _

When I finished reading the letter, I folded it in half and put it in my pocket. Then I turned to Dusk and giggled, "Future me says hi." Dusk grinned, and then I turned back to Marlon, saying, "Thanks. That was pretty helpful. And I think we'll be staying for a while...by the way, are you having any, uh, troubles in your tribe right now?"

I could've sworn I saw surprise flicker in Marlon's eyes, but it was gone so quickly I can't be sure. "Yes," Marlon began. "We recently discovered a tribe of Tenepiscus on our lands, and it turns out they have settled in the lake on our territory." I gasped, knowing that the Tenepiscus are archenemies of the Mazai. Marlon continued, saying, "We tried asking them why they are here, trespassing on our lands, but we only came out with three out of five men and one poisoned boy." "I'm sorry," I murmured. "Yes, it is not good," Marlon replied. "I fear we may go to war if they refuse to talk." "We can help," I offered, the idea hitting me suddenly. Marlon was helping us, why shouldn't Dusk and I help him? "Dusk and I could swim down to their base, and act as neutral messengers. " Dusk threw me a glance and a small smile that screamed, "Sweet! Some excitement!" "I do not know if I can do that," Marlon sighed. "It would be putting you and your friend in danger." "But we're willing to do it, right Dusk?" I asked. Dusk nodded vigorously, his expression so funny I giggled.

"Well," Marlon hesitated. "All right. But you should wait until tomorrow. It's getting quite late, and we are about to have dinner. You are welcome to join, also." "Thank you," I replied, bowing slightly. Marlon returned the gesture, and left.

"Whew," I breathed. "That was strange, getting a letter from myself in the future." Dusk laughed, and I joined in. "Aren't you excited though? We're on an adventure, Dawn! We get to help people, and _time travel. _Who gets to do that in their lifetime?" "I do!" I giggled. "And I never thought of it like that...an adventure, not some stressful mission of saving the world...okay, I like that. Thanks, Dusk, that makes me feel better!" He nodded, and I grabbed his hand, pulling him outside. "Come on, let's go _eat! _I'm _starved!_" "Do you think they'll have hamburgers here? Hamburgers are good," Dusk said as we left the hut. I giggled, and replied, "I'm not sure Dusk. Do _you _think snake like creatures eat hamburgers for dinner?" "Aw, man..."

• • •

I woke up the next morning to the sound of a low, peaceful horn. Thankfully, I didn't have any bad dreams last night, or at least, I can't remember them.

Dusk was snoring next to me in his own sleeping bag, so I shoved him and pushed him, saying, "Dusk, wake up! Du-usk...there's pancakes waiting for you at breakfast." He immediately shot up from his sleeping bag. "_Pancakes?_" He exclaimed. "Really?" "Well, actually, I'm not sure," I replied. "Considering we had cooked rat yesterday, I'm going to guess no." "Aw," Dusk whined. "I love pancakes. Hardly ever get them, though." "Sorry," I replied, stifling a giggle. "Boy, for a fourteen year old, you sure are immature." "Hey, that's not true!" Dusk retorted. "I'm just not a morning person, that's all." "Oh, okay," I said sarcastically. "I'll make sure and get you up at lunch tomorrow, okay?" "Ugh, Dawn, I can't believe I agreed to come with you," Dusk yawned. "Hey!" I nudged him playfully. "You know you wanted to." "Okay, sure...Well, yeah, I did...Sorry." "That's what I thought," I snorted.

There really wasn't much to do to get ready for the day, since our changes of clothes were in the TARDIS, so Dusk and I just splashed our faces, arms, and legs with water from the basin in the corner of the hut.

Eventually, we made it out of the hut and to the breakfast "tables." Well, really, they were long, flat rocks, where people could sit cross-legged and eat food off of wooden plates with their fingers. Actually, it isn't _too _terrible.

When he saw what was for breakfast, Dusk brightened. Turns out, it actually _was _pancakes. Or at least flat bread-thingies that _look _like pancakes. But with the Mazai, you really can't tell sometimes.

Dusk and I looked for a place to sit, because most of the people were already sitting down and eating their breakfast. Finally, I caught Marlon's eye, and he gestured with his hand for us to sit across from him. I smiled, and pulled Dusk by his wrist to the table. He protested only a little, saying, "I can walk, you know!" I giggled, and replied, "Yeah, and I can, too, but that doesn't stop _you _from pulling _me._"

He smiled at my comment, and we reached the table. I sat down, nodded my head to Marlon, Leia, and another Mazai man who I didn't recognize. "Peaceful sunrise, Dawn and Dusk," Marlon greeted us. Dusk gave me a puzzled look, so I mouthed the words, "good morning." "Oh!" He exclaimed. "Yeah, good morning." Now Marlon was confused, so I explained, "In our language, that means peaceful sunrise." He nodded, and then said, "Leia, Salnom, and I were just discussing plans for your departure to the Tenepiscus's base today. We have decided it would be safe if we spent Salnom with you. He is my second in command, as you call it." I nodded, and Dusk opened his mouth to protest, but I caught him off. "That is very generous of you. Perhaps Dusk and I should enter the base alone, though? Then it wouldn't pose as much of a threat."

_Oh yeah, _I thought. _I'm a thirteen-year-old Time Lady diplomat. I'm _so _awesome. _I almost giggled at my thoughts, but caught it right in time. This offer, of course, gave Marlon the chance to spare Salnom of any danger without acting desperate to save his people. After all, Marlon _did _say he came out with two dead men and a poisoned boy.

"Yes, that might work...but he will be positioned by the lake, just in case anything goes wrong," Marlon agreed, and I could see the relief in his eyes. I gave him a small smile, and nodded. "Okay. Let's do it. When should we leave?" "Probably about an hour after sunrise eating," Marlon replied. I guess "sunrise eating" means breakfast. I agreed, and then went back to eating while Leia and Marlon did some small talk. Dusk was wolfing down his "pancakes," and I nudged him, whispering, "Slow down, pig." He whispered back, "Speed up, snail." I stifled a giggle, but threw him a small smile in return.

Dusk chuckled quietly, and then continued to eat. I _did _speed up, once I realized how hungry I was. The pancakes were delicious, even without any syrup. There was also some water to drink, which tasted fresh and cold. The feeling of it on my throat was very soothing.

Soon enough, both Dusk and I were finished, and I murmured to Marlon, "We're going to go back to my...ship, and change before going to the lake." He nodded, and then continued talking with Leia.

Dusk and I stood up, and we walked side by side. "So, we get to negotiate with aliens, huh?" He asked. I laughed, and then replied, "Uh, no. _I _get to negotiate with aliens. No offence, but I'm not exactly sure how well you would do with them." Dusk smiled, and then nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right. No offense taken."

We continued to walk back to the TARDIS. I'm surprised I recognized all the landmarks that I had made on the way here. Time Lady's brains are _awesome; _I just need to say that. Even if mine is technically half-human. But I got all the good characteristics...the regeneration cycle, the brain, the ability to fly a TARDIS...all that wonderful stuff.

"It would be helpful if you could explain some of this crack business," Dusk eventually hinted. "Oh, yeah!" I gasped. "I'm so sorry, I forgot about that. Okay, so, here goes nothing..." I explained it from the beginning: Talking about my father and the blue cracks, but not giving away too much information about my past. Then I explained about the red cracks and my suspicions. I was surprised at how much I had figured out, yet pleased at the same time.

Finally, we reached the TARDIS, and just as I finished my explanation, too. "Okay," Dusk sighed. "_That _was helpful. Thanks." "Anytime," I replied, opening the Sweetie's door.

"**ELLO SWEETIE!" **I boomed happily. _No need to yell, _Sweetie replied. "Heh, oh yeah, sorry!" "Who are you talking to?" Dusk asked, puzzled. "Sweetie, of course!" I exclaimed. He gave me a blank look, and so I flourished my arms, gesturing to the TARDIS. "Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you, the TARDIS is alive. I call her Sweetie. She's also telepathic, which means she can get into your head and read all those tiny little thoughts you like to keep locked up and then give them to me." My voice grew dark, and I poked Dusk's forehead a few times, getting closer and closer. His eyes grew wide, and I laughed. "Just kidding! But seriously, she _is _telepathic, although _usually _she'll respect people's privacy. _Usually._" I looked up and scowled at Sweetie.

Then, I pivoted and dashed up the console room's stairs. "Well, come on then, what are you waiting for? We have about half an hour to get showered, dressed, and head back to the tribe. Oh, wait! You haven't even seen the rest of the TARDIS yet! Don't worry, Sweetie will show you the guest room, and the boy's clothes room, m'kay?" Yup, I know what you're thinking: I'm _very _hyper right now. That's my first generation's personality then, I suppose...serious, kind, and gentle at some times, bubbly, hyper, and goofy at others. And that's just how I like it!

Dusk gave me a blank look, and then started to ask, "How will...Sweetie, show me-Oh...thanks, Sweetie." I giggled; she must've been telepathic with him. "Usually she won't do that with humans...but there are a few exceptions. Don't let it freak you out." Dusk nodded, and then began to walk to the door that leads to all the other rooms. "Oh yeah!" I exclaimed. "Put on a swimsuit, and then something on top, too. I'm not sure if the Tenepiscus wear swimsuits or not...but I'm going to guess no."

I heard Dusk laugh, and then he was gone. I went to a secret door that was connected to the console room, which led to my bedroom.

Inside, it was decorated with random things that were blue and green, my two favorite colors. Posted on the wall were random drawings I had made, most of mom, dad, and any other scene I felt like drawing in space that I saw from the TARDIS. Yes, I like to draw. It's one of my human hobbies. I also like to sing, read, and act. Riding horses has always sounded fun, too.

I flopped onto my bed, and randomly giggled, punching a fist into the air. I felt _really _happy to be on an "adventure," as Dusk put it, not just a stressful task of possibly saving the world.

Finally, I decided I should probably take a shower and then put on a swimsuit, and finally something light on top as a cover up. Throwing open the doors of my _huge _closet (and I mean _huge_), I began to browse the swimsuit section. Finally, I picked out a one-piece blue swimsuit with two green stripes on the sides. It fit me pretty well, if I do say so myself. I picked out a light blue t-shirt to go on top, and a pair of khaki shorts. "Nothing to fancy," I murmured to myself.

Then I raced to the bathroom and started the shower water. It was nice and warm, and I slowed my breathing down a little, trying to relax. I sighed, and finished taking my shower. Then, I proceeded to get dressed.

Finally, I skipped into the console room, where Dusk was already waiting, investigating the TARDIS's controls. "How do you even know what buttons to press?" He asked in awe when I walked in. "It's really not that difficult," I replied. "Besides, I've had eight _years _of practice and reading instructions. It's really a piece of cake. So, you ready?" Dusk nodded, and I looked him up and down. He was wearing red swim trunks, and a black t-shirt on top. "Good choice," I nodded, and then began walking towards the door. Dusk followed.

I giggled, "Dusk, are you ready for the beginning of the beginning of adventures?" He smiled, and then replied, "Yup," popping the p. "Well then," I opened the doors of TARDIS. "Let's go!"

• • •

**Sorry, I know that chapter was kind of long, and there wasn't much excitement...but it was necessary. The next two chapters will be **_**awesome! **_**I hope. Ha ha ha. :) R&R, please!**


	5. Chapter 4: Venom and Scales

**AH! I'm **_**very **_**sorry, I know I haven't updated for so long. This story is kind of hard to write, but I love it! For the part where Gantin and Dusk are talking about "football," for all of you Americans out there, I'm talking about soccer. By the way, if anyone can guess what language I'm basing some of my words off of, you get a cupcake with rainbow sprinkles on top! Also, I'm sorry if my story is a little AU. And urgh, there's a TON of • • • symbols in this chapter…ha ha ha, sorry! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Venom and Scales**

"I win!" Dusk exclaimed when we made it back to camp. "That's...because...you're taller...so you have...longer legs," I panted. We had raced back to the camp, and I was always about a foot behind Dusk. "Sure," Dusk scoffed, waving a hand.

That's when Marlon approached us. "Greetings, welcome back," he waved a hand. I smiled and nodded, still struggling to catch my breath. "Salnom is ready to depart if you are." I nodded once again, even though by now I was breathing properly again. As I said before, having two hearts is useful. "Good. He is over by the edge of camp, waiting by the Trail of Sorrow." Dusk gave me a single glance that said, _Well that's depressing. _I smiled and shrugged, even though I already knew the history behind the name of that trail.

I scanned the back of the camp for Salnom, and when we finally made eye contact, he waved. I waved back, nudging Dusk's arm. "Come on," I murmured. This time, however, I didn't pull him.

When we reached Salnom, he bowed slightly. "Greetings. We will now walk the Trail of Sorrow to the lake. It is not a very long journey. Please, follow me." Salnom began to lead us to the lake, when Dusk whispered to me, "What's the Trail of Sorrow?" "The trail where a terrible, horrifying battle was fought between the Tenepiscus and the Mazai. It happened a very long time ago, and the Tenepiscus and Mazai have been archenemies ever since. The Tenepiscus were driven from this home, but the Mazai stayed," I explained. "But...aren't the Tenepiscus who we're going to 'visit?'" He put quotations around the word "visit." "Yup," I replied, popping the "p."

"So we're in a lot of danger?"

"Yup."

"Awesome."

"Yup...wait, what?"

But Dusk didn't reply, because at that point we were by the lake. "I will wait here, by the shore," Salnom explained. "If you need help, come up to get me. The Tenepiscus's leader's home is in a large, hollow rock, so you should be able to breath for most of the meeting. The guards on watch at the edge of their camp will hopefully bring you to that rock if you hold up four fingers. This means "home" in Tenepiscus's simple underwater language. Uh...good luck." I smiled, bowed, and nudge Dusk a little, whispering, "Come with me for a second." He raised his eyebrows, and I just walked towards the "shore" and began to take my cover up outfit off.

The lake wasn't actually level with the ground. It actually looks more like a gorge, but in a large, circular form. So the drop down to the lake was pretty big, and I plan on diving in.

"What's up?" Dusk questioned when he was there. "Promise me three things," I sighed. "Ok, what are they?" "First," I began. "If I say run, well, swim in our case, _swim. _And don't worry about me." When Dusk opened his mouth to interrupt, I cut him off. "I'm serious. I'll live my life a lot more times than you will." Dusk gave me a puzzled look, so I explained, "Remember, I told you yesterday I regenerate." Dusk nodded, but still gave me a weird look. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, two: _Do not _talk unless you're spoken to. Even then, you might want to give me a glance before talking." Dusk nodded. I don't really think he'll follow any of these "rules," but I might as well try. "Finally, please be careful. As soon as the Tenepiscus figure out we're technically on the Mazai's side, they're going to...well, you'll figure it out for yourself."

I finished taking off my cover up, and sighed, "Well, let's go!" "Wait, Dawn," Dusk began. "Yeah?" "How do you know how to swim? Haven't you been stuck in the TARDIS for eight years?" Dusk asked. I laughed. "You have a bad memory, ya know? Remember, I said the TARDIS is huge. There's a swimming pool." "And a library?" Dusk wondered out loud. "Yes," I giggled. "The swimming pool is actually _in _the library." Dusk laughed, and I held my breath, and then dove into the lake.

Surprisingly, it wasn't shallow at all, even though I dove in at the very edge of the lake. Soon enough, Dusk was next to me, and I swam up to the surface to take one final breath. Dusk followed. "Kay," I gasped. "Their little 'village' is in the middle of the lake, so we have a way to go. You can come up for a breath whenever you want." Dusk nodded, and we dove back down.

I kept my eyes open, despite the little stinging sensation I got. Dusk and I swam for quite a long time. Every once in a while, we would go up for air.

The inside of the lake was beautiful. There were colorful fish everywhere, and exotic plants. It reminded me of an ocean. No wonder the Tenepiscus wanted to settle here.

Finally, I saw some Tenepiscus guards. The Tenepiscus have blue scales all over them, but they have human bodies. The men wear shorts, while the women wear a two-piece type of "swimsuit." Not to mention they also have gills _and _lungs, so they can breath in andout of water.

I glanced over at Dusk to see that he was staring with wide eyes at the two Tenepiscus guards. One had black hair, while the other that had light brown hair that looks a lot like Dusk's. We swam over to them, and I held up four fingers, as Salnom had suggested. The two Tenepiscus guards glanced at each other, and then they turned around towards their village. Luckily, Dusk and I had each take a breath before reaching them, so we were good to go for a little bit.

Dusk and I followed the guards, and I finally saw the large rock in the middle of the camp. The camp looked a lot like the Mazai's camp, only it was a little smaller, and the people were _swimming_ around instead of walking. Also, huts were made of very tall seaweed, and had no roof. Other than that, it was pretty much the same.

Finally, we reached the entrance of the rock. Well, it was actually a tiny hole cut in the very bottom of the wall, just big enough for a grown man to squeeze through. The Tenepiscus guard nudged me towards the door, and Dusk followed. Behind us came the two guards.

As soon as we were inside, I took in a deep breath of air, thankful there wasn't much water in the rock. It was only up to my mid-shin. The rock was lit with candles, and in the center sat a Tenepiscus man, stomach-deep in water. There was a Tenepiscus woman in the corner, who I assumed was the leader's wife.

I bowed slightly, and the leader nodded his head to Dusk and I. "Greetings," I said politely. "My name is Dawn, and this is my companion Dusk." Dusk bowed also. "Ave, Diluculo and Crepusculum," the leader replied with a thoughtful expression. Oh joy, he's speaking in his language. I whispered the translations in Dusk's ear briefly. "Hello, Dawn and Dusk. Please, come, sit. I assume you need to talk to me?"

I sighed, and nodded to the leader. I sat across from him, and surprisingly, this water was warm. Dusk sat next to me, and I felt his tense muscles relax when his arm touched mine. I think it was because of the hot water.

"Ah, you speak English, yes?" The leader realized. I smiled and nodded. Like the Mazai's, his English was definitely rusty, but understandable. "My name is Markis, by the way." A little spark of hope flared in my heart. I know who Markis is. "Hello, Markis," I nodded. "My companion and I are here to talk neutrally, and hopefully by the end it will become friendly conversation. You see, we are messengers from the tribe of Mazai people living on this island." Markis tensed a slightly, and narrowed his eyes a little.

"They wish to know why you have settled on their land," I continued. "Hmph!" Markis scoffed. "Typical Mazai. Getting someone else to do their dirty work. But we were on this land over a year ago. My tribe only just discovered the Mazai's camp, and then they barged in here carrying spears and spitting out a traitor's words." "But you, of all people, should know what situation I am in!" My blood boiled a little, and a little red came to my cheeks. These insults were not respecting the Mazai tribe...at all.

"How so?" I saw surprise flicker across Markis's face. "Oh, Markisian..." I sighed, using his full name. "The poor half-Mazai prince...son of the legendary Marlisian. Is it really a coincidence that both you and Marlon's names originate from his? Marlonian and Markisian, the two brothers. Yes, I know your secret. Your mother was a Tenepiscus, your father a Mazai. Two enemies became allies, and then more. You poor, poor child..." I trailed off. _That's enough, _a tiny voice in my head said. _You've proved yourself enough. _"H-How did you know?" Markis stuttered. "I know lots of stuff, Markis," I laughed dryly. "_Lots._"

"Wh-Who are you?" Markis cried. "I already told you," I replied, smiling smugly. "I'm Dawn Melody." "But a human cannot know this much about our race! A human cannot be on the planet of Vipera!" Markis exclaimed. "But _am _I human, is the question..." I murmured, straightening a little. "Who are you?" Markis repeated. "Guess," I spat. Markis didn't reply. "I'm Dawn Melody, half human, half Time Lady." "What!" Markis boomed. "That's impossible!" "Nope," I replied, popping the "p." "It's not. Because I _am._" "Prove it," Markis spat. "I have a sonic screwdriver, and a TARDIS. She is stuck as a London phone booth on the chameleon circuit. My father is-well, I can't tell you that." I'm not sure if I should've given away _all _of that information, but I don't know what else to do so he'll believe me.

Markis looked over me with wide eyes, and finally gave in. "Fine," scowled. "Now, will you answer my question? You are Markisian, correct?" I questioned.

"I-it...It's true," Markis sighed. "Marlon and I are brothers. Only my two faithful guards," He glanced behind me. "And my wife know. And you are right. I understand what you are going through. It is difficult to be torn in half. But I cannot hold back against Marlon because he is my brother. People would get suspicious." "Yes," I began. "I understand. But it's funny how Marlon looks completely Mazai, while you look completely Tenepiscus." "That really _is _a coincidence," Markis laughed.

I smiled, glad it seemed I was on his good side now. "I have one question though, Markis," I began, wearing a puzzled expression. "How did you get here? The Tenepiscus haven't been on this planet for about...oh, twenty years, correct?" "That is private," Markis scoffed. "I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you." I nodded. "That's all right," I replied. "Thought I might as well try."

"So, we're now faced with a difficult decision..." I started. "To go to war, or to not go to war? I know the legend of the Trail of Sorrow. It was decided on that day that no Tenepiscus and Mazai tribe could ever be allies. But will you be brave enough to break that rule?"

Markis hesitated, and then replied, "I'm sorry, Dawn and Dusk. I am a coward. But I cannot show my older brother weakness."

The next three words he said made my stomach flop:

"We will go to war."

"That is too bad, Markis," I sighed, nodding. "But I understand, even if I think you're being a coward in your decision." "Thank you," Markis shakily laughed. "You are very different from my brother. You would make a good tribe leader." I laughed. "I don't think that's the right job for me, sorry." "Well, Dawn, Dusk," Markis sighed. "I'm afraid I must ask you to leave, unless you want to do this the hard way." "Nope," I replied, popping the "p." "We're ready." "My guards will escort you out." "Thanks."

The two guards began to lead us back to entrance, but with one last sigh, I turned to Markis and said, "I'm truly sorry, Markis. I hope that maybe this will turn out good." "As am I, Dawn. Good luck."

As we left, I glanced at Markis's wife. She was staring at me with sympathetic eyes, and I read her expression: I'm so sorry.

With that, Dusk and I left.

• • •

Dusk and I walked back to the camp with Salnom. My hair was soaked, and my swimsuit was showing through my cover up, but I didn't really care. It was probably around two o'clock now. The meeting had taken more time than I thought it would.

"Well," I sighed. "_That _was successful." Dusk laughed dryly. "Successful?" He exclaimed. "The Mazai and Tenepiscus are going to war tomorrow!" "Oh, I knew that Markis was too much of a coward to except my request as soon as I entered that rock. I know Markis's history, so at least that helped us not get our throats cut. It seems we're on his good side now." Dusk nodded. "So, if you knew that would happen, why did you suggest going there in the first place?" Dusk whispered. "I wanted to know how they got here," I explained quietly. "I'm wondering if it's the cracks. Also, it was good to know what we're up against." "What _we're _up against?" Dusk cried. Then, he murmured, "You mean we're staying to fight?"

I whirled around to face him. "Jason," I murmured very seriously, grabbing his shoulders. "That is _your _choice. I can take you home in a snap. Whatever you choose, though, I'm going to stay. I need to figure out what happened to the Tenepiscus, so that if it _was _the cracks, I can have more information. And, of course, I'll fight. I'm not going to leave the Mazai defenseless." Dusk didn't take a moment's hesitation before replying, "YES! I was hoping we could stay and fight!" He pumped at fist in the air. I laughed quietly. "Dusk, you are the strangest person I've ever met, even though I haven't met many people at all. You're always volunteering to...well, basically _die._"

Dusk laughed, and we reached the camp. Marlon was waiting by the entrance of the trail, and he asked, "Well, what happened?" I sighed, and replied, "I'm so sorry Marlon. I believe the Tenepiscus want to go to war." "Then it will be so," Marlon murmured. "Tomorrow, at sunset. It is the traditional time for war." I nodded, and then frowned. "Dusk and I will stay." Marlon looked like he was about to protest, but then he stopped. "Thank you. I suggest you come and eat high sun meal. My wife has kept it warm for you." Dusk and I bowed, and then left to the tables where I saw two bowls still waiting.

My stomach growled. "How come I never get to talk?" Dusk complained. "You're not an afternoon person either, are you?" I giggled. "Hey! At least I don't wake up from a nap crying!" Dusk retorted. That hit home base, but I ignored it and pretended to laugh whole-heartedly.

The stuff in the bowls was probably some type of vegetable soup, along with some bread, and I ate hungrily. Dusk did the same.

"So, what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Dusk asked, but it sounded more like, "O, what's the pan or e est of e ay," because his mouth was full of bread. I giggled before replying, "Well, I'm going to go back to the TARDIS for a bit. And I was thinking that you might be able to talk to Marlon about getting some training to fight. There's no way I'm going to let you out there without any training. "Hey!" Dusk cried. "I have training. Don't forget, I was a thief once. There were a lot of police I had to beat up." I grimaced and flinched a little, and Dusk muttered, "Sorry." "I know," I sighed. "But these aren't police, Dusk. And I can tell you're excited about it, anyway. You get this certain gleam in your eye when we talk about something exciting." I smiled at the last part.

His bright blue eyes lit up, and I found myself staring into them. _Gosh, he has beautiful eyes..._I did a mental face palm. _Stop thinking like that, Dawn! _I told myself. _I know he's incredibly cute, but your big fat brain needs to shut up! _I stifled a giggle. Sometimes thinking to myself was weird, but in other cases it was pretty funny.

"Like you could hold me back from a battle, anyway," Dusk laughed, nudging me. I rolled my eyes, and continued to eat. I could tell that Dusk was going to be a great companion..._if _he doesn't kill himself in the process.

• • •

"ELLO SWEETIE!" I cried as I skipped into the TARDIS. "Did'ja miss me?" _Hello, Dawn, _Sweetie said, and I could hear a hint of a chuckle in her voice. "I had a crazy time with the Mazai and Tenepiscus...I have to tell you about it," I began to explain to Sweetie everything that happened.

I know that I can technically talk to Sweetie in my head, but I prefer talking to her out loud. It feels...well, more normal. "And now here I am!" I finished, sighing, and plopping onto the floor. "I'm actually not all that tired. I think my Time Lady self is becoming more and more dominate over my human self." There isn't much even human about me, sometimes I like to think I'm only 0.01 percent human.

Really, the only reason I came back to the TARDIS was to change and say hello to Sweetie. "So, anyway, I have to go and change out of this swimsuit, heh. See you in a few minutes!" I skipped over to my room, and flung open the door.

As usual, it was completely clean, except for a single book on my desk. I curiously walked over to it, trying to remember when I last read a book. When I got closer, I realized it was one of my mum's old diaries. Ironically, it was flipped open to the page about the Mazai. I scanned it over, and saw all of the pictures River Song had drawn, when something caught my eye: A tiny corner at the edge of the page was folded over. I unfolded it, and saw two simple words:

Markis's Wife

"Weird," I breathed. "Why did Mum write that? And how did she know about Markis's wife?" I shrugged. "Hm, oh well! I should probably get back to the camp soon."

Flinging my "cover up" onto the floor, I raced into my bathroom, and turned on the hot water for the second time today. Once I was in the shower, a long sigh escaped my lungs.

After a few minutes, I got out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and went to my closet. I ended up picking out some tan shorts that went down to my mid thigh, and then a gray shirt with a white flower design in some parts of the fabric. It was actually quite a cute outfit, in my opinion.

Finally, I ran out of my room and into the console room. "Well, I guess I'll see you later Sweetie. Oh, yeah, could you tell me what time it is?" _It's around two fifty. _Sweetie replied. "Holy _cow!_" I cried. "I've been here around fifty minutes? Wow…oh well, see you later!" _Goodbye. _

I opened the doors of the TARDIS, and then stepped out into the world of Vipera. Taking a deep breath, I made my way back to the camp.

• • •

Dusk's POV-

(Sorry, I'll try not to barge in too much, but yes…It's FINALLY Dusk's POV! Ha ha ha, usually I'll switch a lot more often, but lately I've had no reason to.)

"That is good!" Gantin gasped. I slumped off of his back. "You are strong for a human, aren't you?"

I was in the Mazai's training ground. After Dawn had talked to Marlon about training me, he paired me up with Gantin. Gantin is probably my age, and a little taller. He's teaching me to fight…Mazai style.

It's a little harder than I thought it would be, but Gantin thinks I'm really good at it. It might just be he's going easy on me, though.

Dawn slipped into my mind. I think she's _amazing, _even if she's partly alien. Not to mention she's a…cute…alien, too. To think that they aren't green and slimy, well, it's a little strange, but now I know it's true.

"What next?" I asked. I was wearing the Mazai's armor, but my own shorts. "Hm…" Gantin began. His English, like all the other Mazai's, isn't all that good, but I can understand it. "We try the spear approach, yes?" I nodded. "M'kay…how do you do it?" I questioned. "Stand still," Gantin laughed, and then he picked a small spear up off of the ground behind him.

Gantin began to charge after me, and my natural instinct was to dodge, but he said to stand still. When Gantin reached me, one arm was around my waist, the other holding a spear by my throat. "If you listened to my teaching, you know that it is against the laws of Mazai and Tenepiscus fighting for young ones to kill or be killed. Plus, you do not have a Mazai warrior's tongue to lash out with. So, I bring the spear down here," He moved the spear down to my arm. "And cut. But not enough to kill. Now, tell me, how would you get out?"

So I used all of my strength at once and lunged towards the ground, rolling when Gantin was taken by surprise and followed. I was now lying on top of him, so in one fluid moment, I spun around so I was kneeling over him, grabbed the spear from his hand, and held it at his throat. "Like this?" I chuckled. "Risky, yes, but good strategy. I like it." Gantin laughed. "Now, let me up."

I got off of him and put out a hand to help pull him up. "Thanks," Gantin murmured, dusting off his armor. "You will do well tomorrow. But now, it is sunset, and I'm sure sunset eating is soon. So we must go rest." I nodded, and wondered what Dawn was doing right now. Surely she would be back at the camp by now?

I nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Gantin and I talked quietly as we walked back to the camp. His father is actually Salnom, so he is "destined" to be second in command when he grows up, or even leader, if Marlon and Leia don't have a boy as a kid.

We reached the camp, because the training grounds weren't all that far away, and I saw Dawn weaving baskets with some of the older Mazai girl children. I chuckled. Her basket was already halfway done, while the other girls' were only about a quarter way done. Her mouth was also moving quickly, while the other girls giggled. "Does she know how to do _everything?_" I murmured aloud. Gantin chuckled, and quietly said, "Dawn is her name, yes?" I nodded. "She _does _seem to be very intelligent. Do you like her?" "Yeah," I stared at my feet. Gantin smirked. "_Oh! _No, not like that. I mean, I've only known her for a day…but she's a good friend. What about you, do _you_ like anyone?" I chuckled the last part, also grateful to have changed the subject.

"Y-Yes," Gantin stuttered. "She is sitting on the right side of your friend." I followed his gaze. The girl had long, shiny black hair. "Yeah, she's pretty…for a Mazai." "And your friend is pretty…for a human." I laughed, even though I know that Dawn is really a Time Lady. But if Gantin doesn't know, then who am I to tell him?

"So, what now?" I asked. "We eat sunset meal in a few minutes, so for now we shall…"Hang out," as you call it," Gantin laughed. I smiled, and Gantin explained, "We will go and play pespila." "What's pespila?" I asked. "You hit a ball with your foot across a field and try to get it in between two posts. Also, you must work as a team with other players," Gantin clarified. "Oh, so it's like football!" I realize. Gantin smiled. "I guess so. Come, let's go gather some other boys to play."

Gantin took me to meet some of his other friends: Paolo, Craston, Stanti, and Sahan. The teams were Gantin, Paolo, and I, while Craston, Sahan, and Stanti were on a team, also.

I turns out Gantin was _really _good, Paolo is average, and I got a lot better throughout the game. I remember playing football a little before I was a thief with the other kids in my neighborhood, so I caught on quickly.

Eventually, I heard a long, low, horn noise. Gantin smiled, and Paolo shouted, "Sunset eating!" They all ran to a table, while I hung back a little, looking for Dawn. Eventually, I spotted her eating at the same spot this morning, and excitedly ran over to her.

I plopped down onto the seat next to her, and let out a long, tired sigh. "Hey," I murmured. "Hi," Dawn grinned. I'm serious, her smile is _perfect. _And her glowing emerald eyes don't help with the whole Don't-get-a-crush-on-Dawn-she's-an-alien thing.

"So, what have you been doing?" I asked her. "Oh, ya know, I went back to the TARDIS, changed, then some of the girls invited me to weave baskets." She pulled her newly finished basket out from under the table. It was small, but also neat and perfect. "Between you and me, they're really slow basket makers. I mean, I know eight years is a lot of practice for making baskets, but most of them have been doing it since they learned how to move their fingers." I chuckled when Dawn wiggled her fingers around and shrugged. "But, yeah, that's about it. What have you been doing?"

"Uh, Gantin, Salnom's son, took me to do some battle training," I replied, and Dawn looked me up and down. "So _that _explains the armor," Dawn giggled, and then added, "Nice shorts, by the way. Totally goes with the top." I glared at her, though it was hard to when I was trying to hold in a laugh. "Well, yeah, so then I played pespila, well, football, basically, with some of the other guys." Dawn nodded, and took a bite of her dinner. Tonight, it appears to be more cooked rat. Oh joy.

Dawn and I finished eating silently, and eventually I figured out she must have been thinking _really _hard about something, because her eyes were narrowed and she had her hand propping up her chin.

"Dawn, you okay?" I murmured, since Marlon, Leia, and Salnom were also with us. She didn't reply, instead, her eyes narrowed more, and she started to stare at…well, nothing, I guess. "Dawn!" I said a little louder, snapping my fingers in front of her face. She jerked, shaking her head. "Sorry," She whispered. "I just…I don't know. I remembered something…strange."

Just as I was about to ask about what it was, Marlon's voice exclaimed, "Tomorrow, we go to war!" The Mazai men cheered some battle cries, while the women nodded sadly. Marlon was now standing up. "We will follow tradition and have Sundown Whispering tonight. Please set up fires in the appropriate areas. We will sit with friends and family tonight." Several Mazai men nodded, and then ran off to start fires.

"What's going on?" I asked Dawn. "An old Mazai tradition," Dawn began to explain. "You sit by the fire with family and friends, and you talk one last time before war. It is because when the War of Sorrow happened, several Mazai people left, and didn't come back. Not many relatives and friends got to say…goodbye." I saw a tear slide down Dawn's cheek, and I wondered why. But I after, she whispered something very, _very _quietly, and I strained to hear her say: "…just like mum and dad…and me." She put a hand to her mouth, and then her eyes widened. I don' think she meant to say that.

As soon as it happened, the mask was back on, and she was smiling. "Well, Dusk. It's time to begin Sundown Whispering. Let's go sit by a fire." I followed Dawn over to one of the fires that was least occupied, and we laid down on our backs on the grass about six or seven feet away from it, but we could still feel its warmth.

I looked up at the stars, and smiled. It was so peaceful now, even though tomorrow we were going to war. _I'm _going to war.

Suddenly, Dawn flips over on her side and looks at me. "Jason, who are you?" She asks. "Uh, I'm Jason…did you get amnesia or something?" I reply, a little concerned. "No," She giggles. "I mean, _who _are you. I know that you're name is Jason, but you liked to be called Dusk, unless I'm being super serious, and I know you're a fourteen-year-old former thief. But _who _are you?" Now I get what she's going at. I flip over on my side, also. "My full name is Jason Matthew James. I remember when I was really little, my Grandfather used to call me Jace. But that was when I was…probably five or six. Now I like the name Dusk." "Why?" Dawn questioned. "It's my favorite time of day," I explained. "And I needed a code name when I became a thief…just in case." Dawn smiled, and then admitted, "My favorite time of day is dawn. And midnight, because you can see all of the stars." I nodded.

Dawn hesitated a moment, before shooting another question: "What was your past life like?" "Well…I remember living an apartment with my mum and dad when I was around four. Then my Grandpa invited us to live with him. Each night, he would take me outside, and we would look at the stars. In the daytime, he would take me to the library, and we would read books, countless books…" Dawn smiled. "I love books. They help me escape from the TARDIS." "I know what you mean," I reply, smiling sadly. "I remember seeing a girl with blond hair visit the library everyday, and I discovered she was the librarian's daughter. We would read next to each other sometimes, but never touching." I smiled at the memory.

"Then, one day, I woke up, and Grandpa had told me the day before that we would go to the library early that morning. But when he had closed his eyes that night…they never opened." A tear slid down my cheek, and I hastily wiped it away. "You don't have to go on," Dawn whispered, putting a hand on my shoulder. I shook my head. "I will. So, my mum told me that Grandpa was dead. I didn't really understand it at first, because I was only six. I stopped going to the library for a while, and then one day, the little girl with blond hair came to visit. That day I learned her name was Lily, and she played with me for a while. Then, next week, my mum woke me up early in the morning, saying something about a fire. It wasn't until I was outside of the house that I realized Dad was still inside, and the whole house was practically in flames at that point. My mum tried to rescue him, but…she died. Dad did, too. The only thing I saved from the fire was the blue bandana my mum would always wear, and a photo of them. It's actually in the TARDIS right now, under my new bedroom's pillow." I flashed Dawn a small smile, and blinked quickly to keep the tears back.

"I'm sorry," She whispered. "That's not all," I laughed. "But it gets better from here. Lily came to the orphanage I was at one day, and at this point I was eight, saying that she would come and play with me everyday. And so she did. She also brought food, as the orphanage was always running low. I yearned to go visit the library, but the orphanage boss told me no. Eventually, Lily stopped visiting, and I wondered where she went. By that point I was twelve, and I ran away from the orphanage. Eventually, I found the house I showed you the other day, my old one, and decided to stay there. The next day, a little collie puppy came to my house, and we quickly became friends. She came back everyday, and eventually, I tied the blue bandana around her neck. I named her Grace. After a year, Grace ran off and never came back. I couldn't find her, or my mother's bandana, for that matter. But after a week of searching, the strangest thing happened: A tiny black kitten with white paws walked by my house, and it was wearing the blue bandana. I named her Boots. We also became friends, and about a month before you came, Boots ran away, too, with the bandana. It was really strange." Dawn nodded, a funny look on her face. "I'm sad I can't find Boots or the bandana, but at least I still have the picture."

Dawn stayed silent for a very long time, looking me up and down, so I couldn't help but squirm. Finally, she stopped, and shook her head, eyes wide. "Sorry, Time Lady moment there," She whispered. It reminded me of at dinner, when she had that same look on her face. "Hey, what did you remember at dinner?" I asked, switching the subject. "Oh, yeah," Dawn smiled. "Just something my Mum said to me when I was really small." A flicker of some emotion crossed her face, but it was gone so quickly I'm not sure what it was.

"So," I began. "Do _I _get to ask questions now?" "Uh, maybe," Dawn replied, a cautious look on her face. "Depends on what the questions are." "Okay," I sighed. "I'll start simple: What have you been _doing _on the TARDIS for eight years, exactly?" Dawn smiled, and replied, "Hm…well, I fancy drawing a lot. And reading, of course. A lot of times I would go read a book about something, making baskets, for instance, and then learn that skill. Also, I remember when I was little I would study _so _many alien languages, I felt like my head would burst." I chuckled quietly. "Anything else?" Dawn ventured, looking a little hopeful. "Yup," I popped the "p." "About a billion more." "Shoot," Dawn smiled, a mischievous look on her face.

"Favorite color?" I started. "Light blue," Dawn replied instantly.

"Favorite animal?"

"Wolf."

"Book?"

"My mum's diaries. And Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare."

"Video game?"

"Harvest Moon series. Anything else, I'm terrible at."

"School subject?"

Dawn gave me that But-you-and-I-have-never-gone-to-school look.

"Yeah, I know, answer the question," I rolled my eyes.

"Math."

"Do you know what one hundred ninety-two thousand one hundred seventy-three divided by four is?"

Dawn rolled her eyes, and replied, "Forty-eight thousand forty-three point twenty-five."

My mouth dropped open. "Seriously?" "Yup," Dawn giggled. "How did you _do _that?" I asked, bewildered. "_I _am half Time Lady. That's how I roll," Dawn laughed, smirking.

We continued to pointlessly brag about our skills until I realized everyone around us were no longer there. Dawn noticed me looking around, and shrugged, saying, "They've all gone to bed." I nodded, and flipped onto my back, staring at the stars, once again. "I'm too tired to go back to the tent," Dawn yawned. "You go if you want. I think I'll sleep out here. Marlon's probably going to put out the fires soon, anyway." "M'kay," I yawned back. "Guess I'll stay here, too."

I scooted away a little, however, to give us both some space. "Hey Dusk," Dawn said so quietly, I almost didn't hear. "Yeah?" I wondered what she wanted. I glanced over at Dawn, seeing that her eyes were already closed. "Don't die tomorrow, okay? I don't want to be alone again." At first I thought she was being funny, but then I saw her eyes were open, and she had a very serious face on. "Okay," I yawned. Then a thought hit me. "Hey, Dawn, if I'm out fighting tomorrow, what are you going to be doing?" But Dawn didn't answer, because she was already fast asleep, a peaceful look on her face.

I decided to do the same, and let myself drown into a deep, dark, yet comfortable, sleep.

• • •

**Aw…Such a sweet ending. Ha ha ha. Hope you liked this chapter! I wonder what will happen next? Well, here's a sneak peek…**

Dusk ran up to me. But it wasn't _my _Dusk.

Immediately, I noticed that his eyes were a little _too _bright, and his energy was a little _too _bubbly.

"Hey, Dawn! Hi, hi! Hey, isn't it great, we-," "Dusk," I began cautiously. "Are you alright?" "Yeah, totally, why would you think I'm anything _but _alright? I'm _great, _the best I've felt in-,"

Dusk's excited voice was cut off by the sound of harsh, evil coughing. I realized it was actually _him. _

Dusk was now on the ground lying on his back, and was pale. I immediately knelt down next to him, and Dusk groaned, "Dawn, what's wrong with me?" "I-I don't know," I stuttered. "Help," Dusk whispered. "I will, Dusk, I promise," I replied. Dusk put a hand on his forehead, and what I saw on the back of his hand made my stomach flop, and my heart skip a beat.

Snake bite.

**AH! Freaky, huh? Well, a little…but, the sooner you review, the sooner the next chapter comes!**

**Oh yeah, so I don't forget…**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, or the Harvest Moon series, which belongs to Natsume.**

**Also, Dawn's answer to Dusk's math question was TRUE! Ha ha. :) Sorry, I'm being super random…Anyway, REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 5: The Red Snake

**YEAH! A new chapter! Oh my gosh, I'm sorry it's super long, but you're gonna love it! So exciting…Okay, so if you haven't seen the ninth doctor episode that has Nanogenes in it, they are tiny golden pieces of dust that can heal people. Sorry, had to explain that for this chapter to make sense. Anyway, my sneak peek last time might have left you a little excited for this chapter, so without further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 5: The Red Snake**

**Dawn's POV-**

My eyes flutter open to the sound of the long, low horn again. At first, I wonder why I'm not inside the hut, but then all of the memories come back from last night. I sit up, stretch my arms out, and then look at Dusk. He has one arm all the way out, the other scrunched in, one leg folded, and the other straight. He's also snoring. I chuckle quietly at his position.

Leaning over, I use one arm to shove him a little roughly, and then say, "Dusk, time to get up!" He groans, so I add, "Don't forget you have to fight today. Don't you want to do some extra training, practice, rehearsal, whatever they call it?"

_That's _when he shoots up into a sitting position and exclaims, "Oh yeah! I forgot! I promised I'd meet Gantin for some more training right before the battle this morning. Thanks, Dawn." He races off, and I yell, "Wait, Dusk, don't you want to-," but he's already gone. I sigh and shake my head, then stretch out my legs, and finally decide to stand up.

Resisting the urge to yawn, I make my way over to the hut, going inside. The first thing I notice is that the basin of dirty water was replaced with new, clean water. Walking over to it, I splashed some on my face, arms, and legs, knowing it's no shower, but it will have to do for now.

Next, I reach beside the basin, where I put an extra change of clothes yesterday from the TARDIS, and start to change. The outfit is a teal t-shirt with khaki shorts. Plain and simple, but that's how I like it. Oh, and, of course, I top off my brown hair with my light blue beret.

Finally, I do one final stretch, and then peek outside of the hut. The Mazai are eating breakfast, so I walk out to join them. Taking my place at my now "regular" seat, I notice Dusk's seat is empty. _I guess he's skipping breakfast, _I chuckle inwardly.

"Hello, Dawn," I hear Marlon's voice greet me. Glancing up at him, I smile, and reply, "Good morning, Marlon." "I wish," Marlon sighed. "But no morning is good if the future results in war." I frown, a little irritated with his pessimist remark. _Whoa! _Irritation? Since when do I get irritated? Strange…maybe it's the whole "being around people" again. I mean, I've been lonely and sad, but I don't remember feeling irritation that much.

I don't respond to his comment, but instead nod and continue to eat. It's the "pancakes" again this morning. I notice that several of the Mazai men and boys are talking, while the women and girls stay silent, eating their food with a sad expression on their faces.

I notice one of the very young girls, however, has a different look on her face. It reminds me of the expression I saw on Markis's wife's face…only this young girl's face obviously represents concentration, not sorrow. Or maybe the expression is supposed to be a mask of anxiety? I can't tell.

And that's when the girl looks at me. This young, tiny little girl, probably four or five years old, looks at me. She gives me an expression of pure, absolute terror. And then, she just bursts into tears. Silent tears, though. You'd think she'd want attention, but the tears are quiet, and no one seems to notice.

My heart shatters at her expression, reminding myself of when I was little, and would look in the mirror everyday, seeing a look of loneliness on my face. And that mask couldn't be removed, even when I was happy, there was still a hint of loneliness. It stayed on until Dusk came.

Our gazes are locked, and I can't look away. I don't know why, but I really can't. That's when one, single, tiny thought goes through my brain. The thought might have been a short sentence, but boy did it have a lot of meaning: _I'm scared._

When I blink, our connection is broken, and I shake my head. That thought wasn't _mine; _it was the girl's. Something in my heart tells me I need to go and comfort her.

Standing up, I begin to leave the table, ignoring Marlon when he asks, "Is something wrong, Dawn?" I head to the small table, only large enough to fit four other girls her age, and reach the little girl.

She looks into my eyes, and I crouch down until I'm her height, and whisper, "Hello." The word seems to break the distance between us, and she grasps me in a hug. I pick her up, take her away from the table, and set her on the ground a little further away.

The girl continues to cry, her sniffles piercing my heart. I remember, when I was five, and Mum left me, I would cry almost every night, because I missed her.

"How did you do that?" I ask, looking the little girl in the eye.

"I can send messages to other minds," She explains, whispering. "I wanted someone to come and make me feel better..and…and…" She continued to sniffle and tears dripped onto the ground.

The girl holds up her hand, I carefully examine it, and find what she wants me to see: A snakebite scar. "Ah, yes," I realize. "I forgot about the whole getting 'super powers' when you're bitten by a Mazai." I put quotations around the word super powers. "So why the tears?"

"I-I'm scared," The girl begins. "Papa's going to fight today. I don't want him to…to…" The girl couldn't continue. "Where's your mother?" I ask, wondering why the girl's mum isn't comforting her. The girl simply points to the sky, and I nod. "I'm sorry," I whisper. "I lost my mom, too."

"Where's sh-she?" The girl sniffled. "Lost," I murmured. _Or getting arrested, _a little voice in my head whispered.

"Tell you what," I begin, looking at this little tiny girl, knowing what she's been through. "I have a friend going to fight today. He's not even a Mazai, did you know that?" The little girl nodded. "And I _know _he'll come back," I nod, hoping I sound more confident than I feel. "You know what else I know? That whether your father comes back or not, you have a whole, big family here that is willing to take care of you. And that includes me," I tap her nose. "Even if I'm only staying for a while longer. So you don't have to worry at all, hon."

The little girl smiles slightly, and then whispers, "Okay."

I chuckle, and ruffle her hair. "Now, you should go finish breakfast, shouldn't you?" The girl nodded, and skipped back to her table.

A little hollow feeling filled up my heart when she was gone. Then I chuckle inwardly to myself. _I didn't know I was capable of comforting a child. _Then I remember something River Song told me Amy Pond said to my dad: "You never interfere unless it involves children crying then, is that it?" I smile. "Guess I'm the same way," I whisper to myself.

That's when realization hits me like a baseball bat hits a baseball to get a home run. Several images flash through my brain: The look of concentration on the girl's face, the look on Markis's wife's face, the snakebite scar, the telepathy, the two words "Markis's Wife" on the corner of the diary page…

I gasp, slapping a hand to my face. "I'm _so _stupid." The look of concentration on the little girl's face matches the one on Markis's wife's face. "I'm missing something, though," I murmur, knowing how stupid I must look standing in the middle of camp, but at the moment, I don't care.

"Alright, playback."

One of the many capabilities of a Time Lord or Lady's brain is that they can go back through their memories and zoom in, out, or slide it around, as if looking at a picture. This is what my dad did on his first adventure in his eleventh regeneration, or so my Mum says.

I think back to when I first entered Markis's home. I saw him, and his wife. _Zoom, _I thought, and the picture I had captured with my brain zoomed in. _Okay, let's take a closer look at Markis's Wife…_ The picture started to zoom around every inch of her body, and that's when I spotted it: A tiny space between her hair and the skin on her neck. _Zoom. _There it was, a little scar, randomly creasing up and down, over and under…identical to the little girl's, which mean their ability is the same: Telepathy.

My eyes shoot open, and I smile: That must be it. Markis's wife was concentrating on sending me a telepathic message, but she couldn't get through because one: my brain is guarded because of its Time Lady awesomeness, and two: we didn't make eye contact long enough.

New objective: Talk to Markis's wife and figure out what she wanted to tell me.

My heart skips a beat when I realize that means sneaking into the Tenepiscus's camp, which is now hostile territory. "Awesome," I smile. "Some excitement."

Noticing that the rest of the Mazai people have finished his or her breakfast, I decide to slip out of the camp without telling anyone, because I'm sure Marlon wouldn't allow me to go if I told him. Silently, I creep over to the Trail of Sorrow, and look around one last time to make sure I'm not being followed. Then, I run for it.

I run as fast as I can, knowing that if I'm spotted, it might cause some awkward questions. Worse than that, it could result in being forced back to the camp.

Suddenly, I hear a light, girly voice cry, "Dawn!" For just a moment, I stop, frown, sigh, and then whip around, the happy mask back on. And that fake mask becomes real when I realize I'm face to face with the little girl from earlier.

"How do you know my name?" I ask her.

"I read it in your thoughts that first time," The little girl explained.

I nodded, and the girl continued, "I want to give you this." The "this" sounded a little more like "tis", but I guess all little kids kind of sound like that.

The little girl pulled out a shiny, blue stone. It was about the size of a pebble, but I could see that this was no ordinary rock. It was round and smooth. When she put it in my hand, it began to glow. "She likes you," The little girl giggled.

I stared at the rock in astonishment, wondering what exactly it was. The little girl and I locked gazes, and she replied to my thoughts, "She's a wishing stone. You tell her all of your wishes, and she keeps them a secret. She can talk telepathically, and she's pretty, too. That's how she works for me." The little girl shrugged, and her last sentence ran through my brain.

My one question was this: Will it work the same way for a Time Lady?

"What's your name?" I suddenly asked.

"Abigail," The little girl replied, smiling slightly.

"Isn't that a human name, though?" I question.

"Yes…but Papa likes it. And Mama did, too. She said foreign names are beautiful. Auntie Leia has a foreign name, too, because Grandpa liked those pretty names, also."

My eyes widened when I realized Abigail must be Marlon's niece, because "Auntie Leia" must be Leia. "Who is your father?" I asked Abigail.

"Salnom," Abigail replied, smiling sweetly. "My brother is Gantin."

I smiled. "You have a very nice family, you know?"

"Yes," Abigail laughed. "I do know. It's a very big one, also, according to you."

My grin became even bigger when I realized she was referring to what I told her earlier. "Dawn," Abigail started cautiously. "Where are you going?"

I sighed, figuring I'd have to tell her eventually, and I didn't want to lie. "_Promise _not to tell?" I whisper. Abigail nodded. "I'm going to visit the Tenepiscus."

Abigail nodded. "That's what I thought," She whispered. "I saw it in your head. I-I won't tell, because…well, I know you have to know how they got there." I nodded. "Thanks," I replied.

Abigail smiled, waved, and then started to leave.

Then, I continued to travel to the lake.

• • •

When I finally reach the lake, it's around ten o'clock in the morning. So I still have a few hours until sunset, which is when the war begins.

I realize I'm going to have to swim in my clothes, but just before I'm about to dive in, I realize there's something I need to do.

Taking the wishing stone out of my pocket, I gaze in wonder at it. It begins to glow again, and my gaze locks on to the blue light. "What are you?" I whisper.

_Exactly what young little Abigail told you: A wishing stone_

I realize the wishing stone just had a telepathic connection with me.

_And I'm a girl, by the way._

Giggling, I wonder inside my head, _what can you do for me?_

_You tell me a wish, and I keep them safe for you. I can also help you with your troubles._

"I wish I could get safely to Markis's home." I laugh.

_Ha ha ha, that's a wonderful wish._

"Thanks," I whispered. "By the way, what should I call you?"

_Nitero._

"Okay," I start. "But how are you in a stone?"

_Sometimes, strange things just happen in this universe. I have gone from owner to owner, hand to hand, listening to wishes and healing people._

"Why?" I asked.

_Because when you are countless years old and like to help people with their troubles, it's the only thing to do._

"Then thank you," I replied, nodding. "On behalf of everyone. I think that's a very kind thing for you to do."

_Thank you for saying thank you._

I laugh quietly, and then ask, "I suppose you want to come with me, then?"

_Well, of course. Where else are you going to put me?_

Giggling quietly, I whisper, "Well then, get ready for a big fall."

Running up to the edge of the lake, I dive in. Once in the water, I swim upwards, take a large breath, and start swimming.

It's the same process as last time, and thankfully there aren't as many Tenepiscus as I thought, and most of them that are swimming are women.

Eventually, I make it to Markis's hut undetected. Entering, I take in a long breath, and realize Markis isn't there. Only his wife is.

"Excuse me," I say. The wife doesn't turn around. "Strange," I whisper. "Ex-"She can't hear you," A voice from the corner says. I whip around, and see a Tenepiscus child.

"Why?" I ask.

"She's deaf," the boy explains. "Ever since she was bitten by those _traitors, _Mum hasn't been able to hear. But she can read minds, and send telepathic messages. She told me she was expecting you."

I nod. "Yes, I need to speak to her. Can you get her attention for me?"

The boy closes his eyes, and even I can feel the intensity in his brain, because his facial expression shows it.

Suddenly, the wife turns around, and smiles when she sees me.

I wave, and smile back. Something about her makes me feel at peace, and safe. Markis's wife and I make eye contact, and inside of my head, I ask, _What's your name?_

_Stellia, _She replies. _I know you wish to know the secrets of how we got here. I can tell you even more than anyone else could, because I know the thoughts of others, also. And I know your intentions are pure. In one glimpse into your mind, Dawn Melody, I have picked up so much. _

_I can tell, _I reply in my head. _Now, tell me, how _did _you get here? _

_I can show you. _

Stellia takes two of her hands, and places them on my cheeks. Immediately, a burning sensation courses through my veins, and I know it must be energy, but all the while, it's incredibly painful.

"Please!" I gasp. "Stop!" Sure enough, the energy stops abruptly, and I realize my eyes are closed.

"You now know what if feels like to have the curse of a snake run through you," Stellia sighs. "It is ever so painful, but it was the only way to make you understand what I'm about to show you."

"Wait a second," I whisper. "You're talking out loud."

"Yes," Stellia replies. "Open your eyes. You will understand."

I open my eyes, and sure enough, realization immediately hits me. There's a scene around me of a camp that looks exactly like the one we were previously in, but I know it's not the same.

"We're in your head," I realize. It's not a question, but a statement.

"More specifically," Stellia begins. "My memories. They cannot see you, don't worry," She adds.

"So, what happened?" I ask, my eyes narrowing.

"Look around, Dawn Melody," Stellia replies.

So I observe the scene in front of me. Two Mazai men are carrying fish on some spears back to the camp, several women are weaving baskets, and children are kicking a ball around. But something is off about the whole thing…and that's when I see none of them look happy. Each person's face is worried. I look beyond the camp, and what I see frightens me: A gigantic red crack, going all the way around a large "canyon," which was encircling the camp.

"We were surrounded," Stellia explained. "By the red crack. And each day, the light streaming out of it grew brighter and brighter, until one day, it swallowed the whole camp, and we ended up in the other lake."

I nodded slowly.

"The children cried in fear," Stellia shuddered. "It was a frightening event when even my husband, Markis, didn't know what to do."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, not sure of what else to say.

"So lonely," Stellia suddenly murmured.

"Excuse me?" I tilted my head.

"You," Stellia explained. "Such a lonely, sad child. And then that boy, Dusk, came. He likes you a lot, you know. Thinks you are very intelligent."

I giggle, and reply, "Yeah, I like Dusk, too."

"He is not who you think he is, though, Dawn Melody," Stellia whispers.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I cannot tell you," Stellia sighs. "It would interfere with the future. You must discover the secrets yourself. I can tell, though, that it will not take long."

I wondered if that meant that Dusk was not a good person. But is that really true? Is Dusk really tricking me or something?

"No," Stellia laughs. "It is not like that. He is just not who you think he is. Dusk does not even know half of his own secrets. In that case, not many people who are one third alien do."

I sighed in relief. "Good," I replied. "I don't want to have to drop him back off at his house or anything. But, did you just say he's one third _alien?_"

Stellia started to reply, but then sighed, "Something is interfering with our connection. We must leave, or something may go wrong in the connection."  
"Okay," I nod regretfully. "Let's go."

I brace myself for the energy that courses through my veins again, and sure enough, it comes, almost harder than before. My breathing grows fast and shallow, and then, it's over. Just like that.

My eyes flutter open, and I look around. Suddenly, I notice that Stellia isn't in front of me, she's bending down over me. I crouch down next to her, and am about to ask what's wrong, when a voice cries, "What the _heck _are you doing here?"

And then, everything goes black.

**Dusk's POV-**

It's amazing how life out on the battlefield is. I remember just this morning, the Mazai guys and I had a little meeting, discussing our battle strategies.

After that, Gantin and I went to do more training, and then headed back for lunch. The weird thing was that Dawn wasn't there. I mean, I guess _I _wasn't there for breakfast, either, but that's a different matter, because at least she knew where I was going…probably.

The even _weirder _thing was that she wasn't at dinner, either. Marlon noticed her absence by this time, but he said we couldn't send a squad out to search for her, because Marlon needs all of his men for the war. But I bet she's okay, because I have a feeling Dawn is one of those people who can _always _find their way out of difficult situations, ya know?

So here were are now, it's about five minutes before this whole war thing starts, and Gantin and I are hiding behind a rock, waiting for the Tenepiscus to make the first move.

"I hope Dawn's okay," I whisper to Gantin.

"She will be, don't worry," He replies quietly. "Right now we need to focus on-," A large battle cry erupts into the air. "_That._ C'mon, let's go!"

Tenepiscus and Mazai start to race at each other. Honestly, I don't really know what we're fighting for. I guess it's territory, but maybe it's just a cruel rivalry.

A Tenepiscus boy charges at me, so I swiftly dodge and stick my spear to the side as he passes. I hear him yell in surprise, and then his face goes red.

"Whoops," I mutter. "Looks like _somebody _just got really angry."

Preparing myself for his next move, a flash of red caches my eye, and there's a little stinging sensation in my hand, but I ignore it.

The Tenepiscus boy charges yet _again, _but apparently he hasn't learned his lesson, because this time I do the same thing, but on his other side. "_Really?_" I ask, and this time I take the offensive move, charging, and then he dodges, but I predicted it, and gave him a blow straight to his knee.

Finally, the guy retreats. Guess he's had enough. Maybe this whole "battle" thing will be a little easier than I thought…

• • •

**Dawn's POV-**

I can hear voices in the background, but my head is throbbing so much I can't form words out of their sentences. Eventually, I can hear my own thoughts though, and try to recall what happened.

Honestly, all I remember is hearing a voice, and then this sharp pain in my arm, and after that, everything just goes blank. I try to remember things _before _that, but all I remember is seeing Abigail, then receiving the wishing stone, and coming to see Stellia.

The throbbing pain in my head is now even worse. I guess it's because I'm awake.

_Awake. _The word echoes in my brain. _That's it, _I think. _I must've gotten knocked out. _The throbbing makes me want to cry out in pain, but unfortunately, I can't. It's like I'm stuck under ice, and I can't break out.

_I wish this stupid throbbing would go away, _I think, even though I know no one can hear me.

_I can help with that, _a voice says inside my head.

I realize it's Nitero.

I can feel something tickling my face. Wait, I can _feel? _Since when can I feel?

_Oh yeah, _I laugh inside of my head. _Since about five minutes ago. _

Finally, my eyes flutter open, breaking open the ice. And I'm _very _surprised by what I see there. It's seriously the last thing I would expect. I'm so surprised, my eyes close again.

_Nanogenes! _I gasp inside of my head, and Nitero's voice says, _Finally, you realize what I am._

_But how? _I reply.

_My wishing stone is not really a stone. It's a spaceship. A tiny one, but yes, a spaceship._

_So how are you telepathic? _I ask.

_I tried to heal little Abigail's snake scar, only to discover I cannot, and some of its effect rubbed off on me. _

_Nanogenes with a voice…_I giggle inside of my head.

_I suppose you could say that._

_Amazing how things in this world work, isn't it? _I laugh.

_Yes. _

Eventually, I open my eyes again, only to see that I'm still in Markis's home, only this time there's another woman here along with Stellia.

The woman notices my eyes are open, and she approaches me, saying, "Well well well, look who's up! Tell me, what exactly did you do to my friend Stellia earlier?"

"I didn't do _anything!_" I spat out. "You're the one who broke the connection while we were telepathically communicating, which causes the Tenepiscus brain to shut down momentarily, causing the leg muscles to relax, obviously, and…you don't understand anything of what I just said. Sorry, Ti-never mind." I sigh at the last part.

"So, you're saying that I find a Mazai's guest here with an injured woman, and you expect me to _believe _your little story! Ha!" The woman laughs humorlessly, and I glare at her.

I try to get up so I can approach her, but realize I can't, because my legs and hands are tied up. "Oh, wonderful," I sigh. "Isn't this just _great?_ Well, how about you ask _Stellia _what happened? Ever think of that?"

The woman threw me a glare, and then made eye contact with Stellia. Stellia closed her eyes, and by the time she opened them, the woman was facing me again. Her face was a little softer, and so was her voice when she said, "Oh, well, I'm very sorry then…I-I guess I just overreacted, because everyone expected a raid party to come here during the battle, but we have no men here, because they're all fighting, so…"

"It's fine," I smile. "As long as we're all clear that I'm good. I just came here to have Stellia answer some of my questions, that's all."

The woman nodded, and then continued, "If you don't mind, I think I'll still escort you out though. There _is _a war going on out there, after all."

"Wait a second…there _is?_" I cry. "You mean I've been knocked out for like, seven hours?"

The woman nodded. I did a mental face palm, and thought to myself, _I sure hope Dusk is okay. _

• • •

It was nighttime by the time I reached camp, and I guess the battle is over, because the Trail of Sorrow and its surrounding forest was deserted. Taking a deep breath, I push aside the ferns that block the entrance to the camp.

Immediately, I'm greeted by the smell of smoke from a fire, and I can see several men sitting up that have women and girls tending to their wounds. My eyes begin to scan the crowd for Dusk, when suddenly, a voice cries out, "Dawn!"

I turn to the direction the voice came from, and see Marlon. "Where have you been? I have been worried." Disappointment nags at my brain, but I ignore it, and reply, "Uh, sorry…I went out this morning to do something at my ship, and a coconut fell on my head, so I got knocked out."

_Oh yes Dawn, best excuse ever, _I thought sarcastically, and stifle a chuckle.

Marlon still doesn't look like he completely believes me, probably because they don't really _have _coconuts on Vipera, just brown thingies that look like coconuts. But despite all of this, he still nods and says, "All right. I must go tend to my people. Please, stay in camp for now. Even though we won this battle, the Tenepiscus will still be hostile."

Marlon walked away, and you know what? I'm starting to realize I don't really like this guy…well, not right now, because really, I just want to make sure Dusk is okay.

Finally, I saw Dusk sitting next to Gantin. I smiled, realizing he was okay, and then we made eye contact.

He ran up to me. But it wasn't _my _Dusk.

Immediately, I noticed that his eyes were a little _too _bright, and his energy was a little _too _bubbly.

We hugged, and he exclaimed, "Hey, Dawn! Hi! Hey, isn't it great, we-," "Dusk," I began cautiously. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, totally, why would you think I'm anything _but _alright? I'm _great, _the best I've felt in-,"

Dusk's excited voice was cut off by the sound of harsh, evil coughing. I realized the sound was actually coming from _him. _

Dusk was now on the ground lying on his back, and was pale. I immediately knelt down next to him, and Dusk groaned, "Dawn, what's wrong with me?"

"I-I don't know," I stuttered.

"Help," Dusk moaned. "Really…burns…"

"I will, Dusk, I promise," I replied. Dusk put a hand on his forehead, and what I saw on the back of his it made my stomach flop, and my hearts skip a beat.

A snakebite.

"Dusk," I whispered urgently.

Dusk groaned, and I continued, "Listen to me, Dusk. I need you to not concentrate on the pain, and concentrate on my voice. Stay conscious. Listen, okay?"

I got closer to his ear, and whispered, "Can you hear me?"

I saw Dusk give me the feeblest nod I've ever seen, so I continued, "We're going to get help as soon as we can. You just need to stay conscious until I can get you under supervision, and then I'll go to the TARDIS, and…" I continued talking.

Honestly, I don't really know what I'm even saying right now; I just know I have to keep Dusk awake until I can get him some help. Looking around for someone who can help, I say, "Dusk, do you remember how you told me about Lily the other night?" Dusk nodded. "Think about her, okay? Remember, she had blue eyes, blond hair? And Grace, remember her? The little collie puppy?" I continue to talk about everything he had told me last night until I finally made eye contact with Leia and gave her a pleading look.

She got the message; because I saw her nod to the man she was tending to, and then walk over to me.

"It's a snakebite!" I told her. "Dusk was fighting. I guess someone must've accidentally bit him." Leia nodded, and murmured to Dusk, "Come on, hon, let's get you to a hut, and the nurses and I will give you a little TLC, yeah?"

I gave Leia a grateful glance, and then explained, "I have to go back to my ship and get something, okay? Please, take good care of him."

I sprinted out of camp, my legs moving as fast as I could possibly make them go. I took out Nitero while running, and murmured, "I wish Dusk will get better." Tears are stinging at my eyes, because I know how few people, _especially _humans (or at least future humans that learn how to travel here), survive Mazai bites.

But then I remember what Stellia said in her memories this morning: For that matter, not many people who are one-third alien do. _One-third alien, _I think. _Does that mean he has a better chance of living? I sure do hope so. Which reminds me…_

I pull out Nitero again, and think, _why are you here, anyway?_

_I was exiled from my home planet, as I was mutated. I cannot save people's lives, only heal their wounds, _Nitero replies in my head.

_I'm sorry, _I think. _But that's amazing, because it doesn't stop you from healing those people and their friends._

_I suppose so, _Nitero sighs. _But that's the sad thing. Is that I can't _save _people from death, because then I would kill myself, as once I'm inside their bodies for that split second of healing, I can't come back out. I'd also lose this telepathic connection._

_Still! _I cry. _It's amazing that you're doing this! _

We reach the TARDIS, so Nitero doesn't reply. I open up Sweetie's doors, and rush into my room, saying, "Sorry, Sweetie! No time to explain!"

After rummaging through a few papers on my desk, I finally find what I'm looking for: The letter I wrote to myself. Well, at least, me from the future.

I read the last line: _Also, when you need a little reassurance, fold this letter diagonally, then in half, then in half again. _

I followed the instructions, and parts of letters formed more letters, and letters formed words, which read: What the heck are you doing standing here reading this? Go get some Nanogenes into that reckless Sanare!

I laughed, despite the circumstances I was in right now. That is _so _the type of thing I would tell myself.

And then, everything clicked: Dusk is one-third _Sanare! _

Picking up my Mum's diary off of my bed, I flipped to the seventh page, which is about Sanares, and read it over again:

A "Sanare" is a healing alien. They look a lot like humans, only their hair is _always_ silver and their eyes are _always _an icy cold blue color. The race can harness Nanogenes, which means they can heal themselves and others. All Sanares are born with Nanogenes inside of their bodies, but only a certain few actually have enough to heal themselves and others. Adolescent Sanares, however, can only harness the ability when they experience a very strong emotion. Usually, around the age of twenty, they can fully harness their powers.

As the life of a Sanare goes on, they lose some of their Nanogenes, which means that they eventually cannot heal themselves and others, so they die around the age of ninety, much like a human.

I closed the book, and smiled. _Jason James is one-third Sanare! _I thought, and laughed. _How strange…but if he's only one-third, does that mean he was born with enough Nanogenes to heal himself? _

_I understand, _Nitero's voice said inside of my head.

"Sorry, what?" I asked aloud.

_It _is _possible for me to save a life, _Nitero explained. _Or at least it is possible for me to save Dusk's. _

"Oh," I gasped. "If Dusk is only one-third Sanare, that means he'll need more Nanogenes to heal himself…d-did you just volunteer to go into Dusk and practically kill yourself, just to save my friend?"

_Yes, _Nitero replied.

"I can't let you do that!" I cry.

_If you don't, Dusk dies. And I have lived countless years on this planet. Besides, I won't die. I'll be alive within Dusk, and doing my favorite thing: Healing People._

"Are you _sure?_" I whisper. "Absolutely _sure?_"

_Yes, Dawn. It was very nice getting to know you, but I'm afraid now is the time I must leave. I will live on within Dusk, though. Remember that. We will be a team, going around and healing each other._

"Okay," I sigh, caving in. "Is there anything I can do though, just…I don't know. Just because?"

_Give young Abigail my spaceship. I liked being with her. She truly is a sweet child. _

"All right," I replied. "And you're _sure _about this?"

_Just do it. _

• • •

After asking Gantin about which hut Dusk was in, I head to the one he pointed at.

Barging in, the first thing I see is Leia kneeling by Dusk, speaking softly to him, and he has a wet cloth on his forehead. She glances up and notices me, waves, and then continues to talk to Dusk.

"Is he still conscious?" I ask, and Leia nods.

"Barely," She replies.

I kneel on his other side, bend down so I'm closer to his ear, and whisper, "Dusk?"

He makes a feeble little whine. I grab his hand and squeeze it. Most people may take this as a romantic gesture, but honestly, I'm doing it as a symbol of friendship.

"Dusk, listen to me," I murmur in his ear, and take Nitero out of my pocket. "If you want to live, open your mouth. Trust me, okay?" Dusk sighs, and I take that as acknowledgement.

_All right, Nitero…do your thing, _I whisper in my head.

_Thank you, Dawn, for everything._

_My pleasure, _I reply. _Good luck._

The Nanogenes start to flow out of the little spaceship, and even though it's about a handful, I still hope it's enough.

Dusk's mouth opens ever so slightly, but it's enough. The Nanogenes race into his mouth, and the last lingering Nanogene whispers into my brain, _Goodbye, Dawn Melody, _and then flies into Dusk.

"Okay," I whisper. "Now, the hard part."

"What was that?" Leia asks.

"Nanogenes," I explain. "Healing particles. Very useful."

She nods, and then I get close to Dusk's ear again, and cringe when I remember the pain he must be going through. "Dusk, are you still awake?" He moans. "Good. Now, listen to me very, _very _closely." I look at Leia, and as if she can read my mind, she stands up and leaves the hut. "I need you to sum up all the emotion you can, okay? Just…do it. For me. For yourself, too, okay?"

Dusk nods weakly. "Remember your Grandpa, and Lily, and your parents…okay? The blue bandana? Gather _all _the emotions that come from these memories, got it?"

I squeeze Dusk's hand once more, when a voice from behind me says, "It's not fair!"

I realize the voice is Abigail's, and suddenly, she's in front of me, on the other side of Dusk. "My Papa came back," She whispers.

"Oh, Abigail, that's great!" I reply, smiling at her. "Dusk, did you hear that? This is Abigail. Oh, right, sorry, focus on the emotions, kay?" Dusk nods weakly again.

"But it's not fair!" Abigail cries again. "If Papa lives, Dusk should, too. You _promised, _remember?"

I nod, and feel my eyes begin to water. "Don't worry," I murmur to Abigail. "He'll live." Seriously, I hope I sound more confident than I feel.

"Remember, Dusk?" I whisper in his ear. "You made a promise to me last night. You said you'd come back in one piece, right? You've got to keep that promise, got it? Please…I don't want to be alone again. And I don't want you to…to…" A tear slid down my cheek, and landed on Dusk's and my hands, which were clasped together as if nothing could tear us apart.

And as if that one sentence, that one tear drop, was the key, it started to happen: Dusk's whole body started to glow, beginning with his hand, and then the rest of it was surrounded in little gold particles: The Nanogenes.

I smiled. "Look, Abigail," I whisper. "It's _working!_" She smiles, and suddenly, Dusk sits up, our heads bang together, and he puts a hand to his head while crying, "Oi, that was one _heck _of a sugar rush!"

"Dusk!" I laugh, and we hug. "You're okay!"

Dusk laughs. "Of course I am," He replies, and I swear I can _hear _him smiling. "I promised, didn't I? And I guess you're right, too."

I laugh, "Usually I am. But what am I right _about, _exactly?"

"Sometimes, I get so reckless, it's like I _want _to kill myself! Gosh, I can't believe I didn't notice _this,_" He glances at the scar on his hand. "Sooner!"

We break apart, and I reply, "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Me, too," Dusk laughs. "But how _did _you do it, exactly? I just remember you saying something about pooling all of my emotions together, and then you said something about the promise, and-"I'll explain later," I interrupt.

Dusk shrugs. "M'kay."

"Right now, I think we should say goodbye, head back to the TARDIS, and get a good night's sleep before tomorrow's adventure," I smile at the last part.

"We have an adventure _every day?_" Dusk cries.

"Would you want it any other way?" I reply, giggling.

"No, of course not!" Dusk laughs. "That's awesome, man, I'm so excited!"

"Come on, Dusk," I sighed happily. "Let's go."

• • •

It's now ten o'clock in the morning, the day after Dusk's whole "Snakebite" incident. Speaking of a snakebite, I'm still wondering what his "powers" will be, but I can't tell yet, because the scar isn't completely done forming.

This morning, Dusk and I reluctantly said our goodbyes to everyone. For me, it was really hard saying goodbye to little Abigail. I gave her the spaceship back, and in return, she gave me a big hug.

So here we are in the TARDIS, floating in the middle of space. I'm messing around with a bunch of controls when Dusk walks in the console room with wet hair and bright eyes.

"Feeling better?" I ask cheerfully.

"Lots," Dusk sighs. "A little tired, but better."

"Wonderful," I giggle. "Want to know where we're going today?"

"Later…first, you never _did _answer my question," Dusk began.

"Yeah? What question was that?" I wonder curiously. Honestly, I forgot the question he asked me yesterday.

"How _did _you save me?" Dusk whispered. "Because I _know _I was on the brink of death."

I sighed, and then turned to face Dusk. "Jason James," I began.

"What would you say if I told you you're one-third alien?"

**BUM BUM BUM! The "evil" cliffhanger. :) I hope you liked this chapter, cause I thought it was pretty darn good. But that's for you to decide! Any guesses on what Dusk's power will be? REVIEW!**

**P.S. Sorry it was so long. ;)**


	7. Chapter 6: Twilight?

**HEY Awesome wonderful people reading my story! I hope you like this super fast update! I'm trying to make up for my absence before.**

**Okay, so I hope you liked the last chapter, and I bet you might like this one even MORE! It's very dramatic, and it's got some romance, too. Sorry if the beginning is a little confusing, keep reading, you'll get it. :) Ha ha ha, guess what? I put two of my favorite characters from video games in these next few chapters! LOL! Anyway, ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT the Twilight Series by Stephanie Myer. (No, don't hate me, it isn't all Twilight in this chapter, ha ha ha! They just make a little funny comment about the two.)**

**Chapter Six: Twilight?**

It's been about a week since the whole "Mazai and Tenepiscus" adventure. I remember how Dusk replied when I asked him the "golden question" though. We also discovered some "secrets" about my Mum's diaries…the whole scene went a little like this…

"No way!" Dusk exclaimed. I nodded, smiling. "Man, really? I'm one-third alien?"

"Yup," I giggle.

"Wait…you're not playing some cruel practical joke, are you?" Dusk narrowed his eyes. "Because that's just _low._"

"No, _Jason,_ I'm being serious! Describe to me what your Grandfather looked like," I begin.

"Well," Dusk started. "He had ice blue eyes, and silver hair. And sometimes, when he put a band-aid on one of my cuts, I could've sworn I saw his hand glowing."

"_See!_" I cried, shoving my Mum's diary in his face. It's still opened up to the page about the Sanare. "Read it."

Dusk's eyes scanned the page, and I saw them growing wider and wider until they were probably the size of saucers. And I'm not talking about the tiny ones; I'm talking about the _huge _ones.

"Oh my gosh," Dusk whispers. "I'm one-third alien. _Ho-ly _COW, that's _awesome!_"

I start to laugh so hard there are tears in my eyes. "What?" Dusk asks, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing," I giggle, using the back of my hand to wipe a tear away. "J-Just your reaction, it's-oh, never mind. I'm just glad you believe me. I thought you'd hate me or something afterwards."

"I believe you," Dusk whispers. "It's crazy. I just feel like I can trust you so much, Dawn. I guess you're just that type of person."

I smile sweetly at Dusk. It was one of those Don't-say-anything-you'll-ruin-the-moment moments.

"So," Dusk begins. "That's how it worked? I healed myself?"

"Well, I had to give you a 'booster,' but yeah, you can heal yourself and other people now that you have all the Nanogenes necessary for it. It will only work when you're having moments with a lot of emotion, though, because you're just getting used to the whole thing," I explain.

Dusk just nods, and then continues to read the book I gave him.

Finally, he asks, "Hey, is there a page about the Mazai in here?"

"Yup," I reply, flicking a switch on the TARDIS while glancing at him.

After a few moments of silence, Dusk gasps. "What?" I ask.

"I-It's just…the handwriting on the Mazai page compared to the page before it…they're both so different!" Dusk glances at me, and I walk over to where he's leaning against the console.

Dusk begins to flip from the page about the Mazai to the page before it, which is about the Cybermen. "Hm…that's strange…" I murmured. "Very observant, Dusk. I like it. Keep it up."

That's when it all _clicks. _Like two puzzle pieces, you _know _you're right.

"Oh!" I gasp.

"What?" Dusk glances worriedly at me.

"I get it now! _I _filled up the blank pages at the end of the book, not Mum! That's how in the corner of the page were the words Markis's wife, and…wow! That's amazing!"

Dusk gives me one of those what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about looks, so I explain, "In the future, I guess I have to come back some night in my _future _TARDIS to _this_ TARDIS and write the extra journal entries I put in here about all of my adventures…I wonder if I'll ever fill up any more books…man, that's amazing! Dusk, thank you for being so observant."

I think he's still confused, but I ignored him, and ask, "Jason James, have you ever been _anywhere _except where you used to live, and Vipera?"

Dusk shakes his head, and I giggle, "Oh, you have _so _much to learn…and see, for that matter."

And _that's_ exactly what we've been doing this week. I took Dusk to Australia, America, China, and all those other crazy, wonderful, beautiful places on earth. And even though I had never been to those places, either, I still recognized all the landmarks from the books and stories. It was even better than I had imagined.

One day, I even took Dusk to the middle of a forming planet. I know he really liked it all, but now I think I'll take him on an adventure. Because really, nothing _super _exciting happened this week (Well, besides when we visited France, a little girl asked me if I could get her evil cat out of a tree, but I don't think that counts).

So here we are now: It's eight o'clock in the morning, TARDIS time, and I'm sitting in my bedroom reading a book. Well, specifically, New Moon from the Twilight series.

The little knock on my door makes me jump. I run up to open it, already knowing that it's Dusk (Who else _could _it be?), but wondering how he found the secret door to my room.

Sure enough, when I open the door, Dusk is standing there, a smirk on his face. "Ha! I _told _you I'd find your room someday. Now you have to stick to your promise, so let me in!"

"Crap," I mutter, and the sigh. "Fine, you found me. Come on in, but it's a little messy."

I open the door fully to let him in, and once Dusk is inside, his eyes grow wide, and for a few seconds, he just stares around the room. "Well?" I ask. "Is it what you expected?"

"No," Dusk laughs. "Honestly, I thought I would find test tubes full of alien blood and spare robot parts all over the place."

I giggle, but when Dusk keeps his face composed and somber, I realize, "Oh…you were serious."

Now it's Dusk's turn to laugh, and he replies, "No, I'm kidding. I actually don't know what I expected. Just not…"

"This," we say at the same time, and he nods. "_So,_" Dusk begins, and I've known Dusk long enough now to discover that tone of voice means he's going to ask a question about the schedule, or tell be something's wrong. "I thought you should see this." Yup, right on the spot.

"What's up?" I ask, slipping off of my spot on the bed and walking towards him. He simply holds up his hand, and I gasp.

"My scar finally developed over night," Dusk whispers. "What does it mean?"

Dusk's scar was shaped _exactly _like the crack Carl and Dave had drawn for me in the jail cell, and _exactly _like the one surrounding the old Tenepiscus's camp.

"I-I don't know," I whisper. "Strange, I feel like the crack is almost _following _us…The twin of the crack my dad chases around, stalking his daughter…a little freaky."

I pause, and then cheerfully add, "But maybe it's just a coincidence! You never know!"

Dusk smiles, and then continues, "So, do I have…powers, now?"

"That's a good question," I reply. "Because you already have the ability to heal, and I've never seen a Mazai scar shaped like this before. So we're going to have to figure out this whole powers thing ourselves."

"Cool," Dusk smiles. "So, anyway, what are you doing right now?"

"Um…reading…New Moon…from the Twilight series," I reply, staring at my feet.

"You like the _Twilight _series?" Dusk laughs.

"Well, kind of," I sigh, throwing him a small smile. "I mean, the first one was good, just because it had a lot of tension, but the second one…not so much. A little _too _depressing for me. Then again, Romeo and Juliet is a little depressing, too, but still…I mean, the whole concept of-oh, never mind."

Dusk grins at my crazy "explanation." He always does that when I start to randomly ramble on, and when I asked him why while we visited France, he wouldn't tell me. Strange, right?

"So, where are we going today?" Dusk finally asks, and I chuckle.

"I _knew _you wouldn't be able to hold that question in much longer. Come on, let's go to the console room," I giggle, and we both walk out of my room, side by side.

Skipping over to the console, I exclaim, "**ELLO SWEETIE!**" I pull the "on" lever, and some more buttons start to glow.

While I press a big blue button, Dusk asks, "So, where _are _we going, exactly?"

"Well, see, I decided that we're going to-hey, would you mind pressing that big orange button? Thanks. Anyway, I decided that you've seen enough of the world, and we're going to carry on with going on adventures!" I explain, flicking a red switch and twirling a spiral top.

"_Awesome!_" Dusk yelled, pumping a fist into the air.

"So last night, I looked over the pages I filled up in my journal, beginning with where the handwriting changes-the Mazai- and I kept reading for a while. And finally, I decided that we'd head to the planet where the next aliens I recorded, which are the Lumia and Lupia. So we're actually heading to the planet Muforam and…I just realized we might want to change!" I just figured out that last part.

"Why?" Dusk wondered aloud.

"Well, because," I began. "The planet Muforam is kind of like the medieval times were on Earth. So I was just thinking if we wore regular clothes, we would _definitely _stick out."

"Oh," Dusk replied. "Okay. But where do we find medieval clothes on the TARDIS?"

"Ah, the _big _wardrobes," I explained. "Those closets are so big they could be churches…if you wanted to renovate them and stuff. But all the clothes are sorted into their own times, so it will be really easy to find me a dress, and get you…well, whatever it is boys wore in those days." I chuckled quietly at the last part.

"Wait, before we do that, answer me this: What are the aliens like on Muforam?" Dusk questioned.

"Well, really, most of the people there are almost exactly like humans, only they came from that planet. Some of them though, _are _what you would consider aliens. First, there's the Lupia. They transform into wolves at the full moon and hate the Lumia, even though they live in peace on the same world," I explain. In my head, I add, _Sadly, they're also not incredibly hot like Jacob from Twilight, but I guess that's okay. _

"So they're basically werewolves?" Dusk laughs.

I giggle, and reply, "Yeah, but don't let them hear you say that, or they'll…you don't want to know."

"So what about the Lumia?" Dusk asks.

"Well, the Lumia are super pale, drink blood, and hate garlic," I explain.

"So your everyday vampires?" Dusk raises his eyebrows.

I shrug, and reply, "Yeah. Basically. Except on Muforam they drink blood from hospitals. Like the leftover stuff from blood drives or whatever."

Dusk nods, and I can see that he tries to hide his disgust at the thought, but his eyes give it all away.

I giggle, and grab Dusk's arm, pulling him out of the console room. "Well, come on, then. We need some different outfits."

• • •

_Fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh! _

"Hurry up, Dusk, I want to go!" I yell.

"Coming!" Dusk replies, and his voice is coming from the hallway.

I ended up wearing a blue, silky dress with a criss-cross design on the front. It was plain and simple, but I could get used to wearing medieval clothing. It's all so pretty.

Dusk emerged into the console room, and I saw him wearing a brown vest with a white shirt underneath, and long, brown pants.

"Good choice," I giggled, and Dusk laughed.

"I could say the same to you," He replied. "Since when do you wear _dresses?_"

"Since five minutes ago," I stick my tongue out at him, just for fun. "Besides, I think it's pretty."

"Yeah, it is," Dusk mumbles, and then his eyes widen, as if he didn't mean to say that. A small smile play on my lips, but I pretend I didn't hear his comment, and skip down the console room stairs.

"Well, come on, you coming?" I ask when I'm at the door.

"Yeah!" Dusk snaps back into reality and rushes down to stand next to me. I open the doors of the TARDIS, and we walk outside.

"Wow," Dusk whispers. "It looks exactly like Earth, only…older!"

I smile, shaking my head, and take in our surroundings. The TARDIS landed in a little alley, in between two stone houses. Around us are more houses; some are brick, others are stone. I can see in the distance there's an ocean and docks, with huge ships by the shore.

"Would you look at that?" I smile. "We landed _right _in the capital city!"

Dusk simply nods, and I take that as a response. I take one step forward, and then abruptly stop. My hearts skip a beat, and I whisper, "I knew it."

"What?" Dusk asks.

"Take one step forward. Just one," I reply.

Dusk follows my instructions, and then stops. "There's something off here…" I murmur, tapping the stone road we're on with my foot. "The air feels a little funny, too. I knew we came to the right place. Something's wrong."

"Cool," Dusk whispers, and I roll my eyes.

"Well, anyway!" I smile, and turn to face him. "Let's go!"

As Dusk and I walk down the road with hundreds of other people, rushing to get from here to there, he asks, "Where exactly are we going?"

"Here," I whisper, and then take a few steps forward. "Pardon me, Madame," I address a woman dressed in very elegant clothing in front of me. "But would you mind taking…oh, three steps to the left?"

"Pardon?" The woman asks, and I repeat, "Please, Madame, it's for your safety. If you could just take three steps to the left, that would be wonderful."

Cautiously, the woman takes three steps to the left, and I smile. Dusk is now next to me, and I whisper in his ear, "Watch this."

Just as she moves, someone cries, "Watch out!" And an out of control carriage speeds down the road, right in the spot where the woman just was. The woman, who I know is actually the _queen _of Muforam, glances at me, and I say, "Here, now take two steps backward!" This time, she follows my direction without hesitation, and a person trips in front of her, which is in the spot she just was.

"All right, good. Now, take five steps toward me. Yes, just like that."

I giggle at the end, Queen Marissa stares at me with wide eyes, and then cries, "How on Muforam did you do that? Who are you, child?"

I smile sweetly at her, courtesy, and explain, "I am Dawn, and this is my friend, Dusk."

Dusk bows, and then murmurs in my ear, "I've _always _wanted to do that." Those words make my smile grow larger.

"We have been traveling, and decided to stay a while here. You see, Queen Marissa, I just had a feeling that would happen, so I decided I should warn you," I continue.

Okay, so maybe that isn't the truth. Honestly, I knew to do that because in a history book about Muforam, it explains that a young peasant girl with brown hair and emerald eyes saved Queen Marissa twice in thirty seconds. I always wondered if that would be me…

"Well thank you, Miss Dawn! And you also, Sir Dusk!" Queen Marissa cries. "Tell me, is there anything I can do to repay you? Oh, I know! How about you stay at my castle for a few nights, yes? You did say you were traveling, correct? Besides, children your age shouldn't be wandering around alone! You and your friend are welcome to stay."

My hearts jump, and excitement pulse through my veins. "If you would give me a moment to discuss your offer with my companion here, I'm sure we could give you an answer." Queen Marissa nods, and so I turn to Dusk, give him the puppy dog eyes, and beg, "Please! _Please! _That would be _way _cooler than the TARDIS."

Dusk rolls his eyes, and then replies, "Oh, who am I to stop you."

"Yes!" I whisper, and turn back to Queen Marissa. "We would be delighted! Thank you very much for your hospitality! However, I wonder if you could give my companion and I a few hours before going to the palace. We need to get our belongings, and I would like to explore the town a little more." Dusk throws me a questioning look, but I ignore it.

"Of course, Miss Dawn and Sir Dusk," Queen Marissa replies, smiling kindly. "I will make sure you are given the best of service at my home, also. I will also tell my guards of you, and they shall let you in when you decide to come."

"Thank you, Queen Marissa," I reply, and courtesy again.

She does the "queen wave," and then leaves with a royal guard by her side.

"Wow," Dusk says.

"I _know_!" I squeal excitedly. "So, you ready for the _real _adventure to begin?" He nods, and so I continue, "Okay, here's the plan: We are going to split up for about two hours…I need you to go to the east side of town," I point to the east while saying this, "And I'm going to go west. We'll meet back at the castle in around two hours, okay? Here," I pause, taking some Muforam money out of my pocket. "Buy yourself a snack."

Dusk nods, and give me one, long look, with something in his eyes that I can't quite identify, and then says, "Bye." I smile at him, and then start walking west.

"Wait, Dawn!" Dusk suddenly cries, and then grabs my hand, pulling me back. Leaning down a little, he kisses me on the cheek and whispers in my ear, "Be careful, okay?" Then, he simply walks away. I can't move, I'm in so much shock. I put a hand to my cheek, and feel it burning. I'm…blushing?

Whoa_. That _was crazy, even for a Time Lady.

**Dusk's POV-**

I'm not really sure what Dawn expects me to find here…but I'm still looking.

Dawn. I smile when I think of her. I'm not really sure what happened back there, but all of the sudden I just had this weird feeling, and it _happened. _I hope she won't be _too _freaked…of course, this is a half-alien thirteen-year-old genius we're talking about here, who probably could stand up to an army of Tenepiscus _and _Mazai. So surely one kiss couldn't be _that _bad?

Suddenly, a loud, clanging noise interrupts my thoughts. I can see a young, blond girl with blue eyes running down the street. "Get back here, you little stealing _rat!_" A man cries from behind, and he appears to be chasing her.

Knowing that it's wrong, but having the impulse to do it anyway because I _was _a thief once, I grab the girl's arm and pull her back into the shadows. Surprisingly, she doesn't make a noise.

The man looks around for a few moments, and then passes, continuing to chase someone who he's lost track of.

I turn to face the girl, and take a closer look at her: She has shoulder length, dead straight, blond hair, and deep blue eyes. Her outfit looks somewhat peasant-like, but a little dirtier. Something about her seems a little familiar, but I can't quite pinpoint it.

She looks a little frightened, so I whisper, "Don't worry. I won't hurt you."

The expression on her face changes, but I can't really tell you what it was because we were in an alley, in the shadows, so it's kind of hard to see.

"Thank you," She whispers back.

"Who are you?" I ask quietly.

"Emily," She replies. "Who are you?"

"Ja-Dusk," I correct myself quickly. "What happened back there?"

Emily looks at her feet and murmurs, "I, uh, stole some bread…from a chef."

I chuckle quietly, and she whimpers, "You won't turn me in, will you?"

"Naw," I reply. "I was a thief…once. It's kind of hard to get off of doing it, though, so I suggest you stop."

Emily nodded, and explained, "I know…my Mum taught me that when I was younger. She read me a story about some thieves, and how they got…well…" She pulled a finger across her throat. "If you know what I mean."

I chuckle, and reply, "Yes, I do." _That's _what's familiar about her. She looks a little like the Lily I remember, only Lily's hair was longer and curlier, and her eyes were lighter. Plus, her clothes were _always _clean…but why am I still thinking about her? Oh yeah, because I miss her, according to Dawn. That's how she explains my constant blabbing about Lily.

"Anyway, where are you headed?" I ask.

"The castle," Emily sighs. "I'm a maid there…but I don't think I deserve to be. According to the chef who chased me back there, I'm a 'little stealing rat,'" She giggles quietly at the last part, and it reminds me of Dawn.

"Well, if you're hungry enough that you'll steal your food," I start, gesturing to the bread. "How about I buy you some lunch?"

"R-Really? Would you do that for me? Oh, thank you, Sir!" Emily cried, hugging me. I was a little surprised, but then returned the gesture.

"You can call me Dusk," I smile warmly at her.

"All right," Emily replies. "Dusk, then. It's been nice meeting you."

• • •

About an hour later, Emily was walking me to the castle. We were taking our time though, having small talk.

Also, I was looking for any signs of trouble. Honestly, when you're walking down a brick path in the middle of a forest that _looks _all happy and cheerful, but it's deserted, it's never really going to be happy and cheerful.

Suddenly, a flash of gray catches my eye. I turn to where it came from, but don't see anything. Turning back towards the path, Emily continues to talk about her family. She's explained to me that she has _lots _of people in her family, and all of them are working at the castle. Being fourteen, Emily just became old enough to work as a maid there.

Another flash of gray catches my eye, and this time, I could've sworn I saw a glint of the sun reflecting off of metal in the grass. Approaching the spot I saw it, Emily suddenly says, "Uh, Dusk, you might want to stay away from that."

I didn't listen to Emily, and bent down to touch a piece of circular metal implanted in the ground. Immediately, it burned my finger. "Ouch!" I spat out, pulling my hand back.

"Darn," I hear Emily whisper, and I look at the piece of metal a little bit closer. It's about the size of my fist, and round.

"Hey, Emily, do you know what this is?" I asked, still investigating the metal.

"Uh, Dusk!" Emily murmurs. Her voice is a lot closer than I thought it would be. Looking up, I see her standing next to me. "Look!" She whispers, pointing a finger behind me.

I whip around, and see a group of knights surrounding us. Emily hisses out a few words, and I strain to understand, "You will leave this place now. He is innocent!"

I'm about to ask Emily what she's talking about, but then, something weird happens. And I mean _really _weird. All of the knights melt into this purple glob, and then the glob dissolves away.

"What were _they_?" I ask Emily, curiously investigating the spot they disappeared.

"K-Knights," Emily replied. "What did you think they were?"

"No, I mean, _what _were they? Have _you _ever seen knights dissolve in thin air like that?" I exclaimed, facing Emily.

"N-No," She whispered. "Come on, Dusk, we need to get to the castle. Please."

Her expression makes my heart melt, so I agree, "Fine. Let's go."

She continues to speak of her family, but this time, I'm not entirely listening…

**Dawn's POV- **

I started to jog west, heading towards the docks. If I've learned _anything _from the Mazai and Tenepiscus incident, it's that you never know what's underwater.

Finally, I reach the docks, and my eyes scan the area. It all _looks _normal: There's a sailor unloading some supplies from a large ship, and two little kids playing in the water.

I eventually find the Princess of Muforam, who is about sixteen right now, which is eligible marriage age…for Muforam.

Princess Evelyn is saying good-bye to her secret "friend" (boyfriend, in modern terms), Vaughn Vaults, who is leaving to go to another city for two days so he can deliver livestock. How do I know all of this, you ask? Because I'm just so awesome like that.

When Vaughn has left, I approach Princess Evelyn, and curtsy while saying, "Good day, Princess Evelyn."

Princess Evelyn also curtsies and replies, "Good day, young miss. Pardon me asking, but what is your name?"

"Dawn," I reply.

"Hello, Dawn," Princess Evelyn starts. "Is there a service I can assist you with today?"

"Oh, no, quite the opposite," I smile, and continue. "I was just wondering if you could give me directions to the castle?"

"Ah, yes," Princess Evelyn laughs. Gosh, I _love _how everyone is so nice here. "If you go down to the local bakery, there should be a path heading into the forest. Take that all the way to the castle, and don't turn anywhere. That path will take you to my home. By the way, if you're heading to the castle, could you do me a favor? My brother, Marth, is in the forest somewhere, but I haven't seen his since last night. I haven't told mother yet, but…could you keep an eye out for him?"

"Of course, Princess Evelyn. Thank you, for your kindness," I curtsy once more, and begin to leave, but then remember, "Oh yes! Princess, if you're questioning how much Vaughn likes you, how about you look up the meaning of those red tulips he always gives you?" I wink at her, and then turn around, heading east, even though I told Dusk I'd explore west. There's something I'd like to check out around the TARDIS first.

Pulling the sonic screwdriver out of my pocket, I flip it around a few times, test it to make sure it works, and then shove it back into my pocket. I'll need it for some investigating.

Finally, I reach the alley I parked the TARDIS in. Then, I slowly walk forward, until my foot finds the large, square stone of pavement that felt funny earlier.

Crouching down, I whisper, "Ah, here you are." Taking out my sonic screwdriver, I press the "magic button" and trace the perimeter of the square.

I seriously _love _Sonic Screwdrivers. I haven't had this one for a very long time, but I think it's super cool. They actually send out sonic waves to "shake" things, to explain it simply, so that locks unlock, or that a mine would be caused to shake and then explode, or even uncloak cloaking devices…like in this case.

"So _that's _what you are!" I exclaim as the cloaking device flickers. One second it's a stone block, the next it's a wooden door in the ground. "_Beautiful!_" I cry. "Probably technology a thousand years ahead of earth, oh, that's gorgeous…such a great use of technology. If I had reason to believe it was being used for good purposes."

Finally, the cloaking device flickers to the wooden door and stays there. Hopefully, it's unlocked, because sonic screwdrivers don't work on wood…which is kind of weird, because of all the things it _does _do, it _doesn't _unlock doors.

"Well, here goes nothing," I murmur, and yank open the wooden door. "Oh, wonderful. It's unlocked. You'd think whoever has a cloaking device that futuristic would have better security, too."

Reaching beside me, I grab a tiny pebble, and drop it down into the pitch black "pit." After about three seconds, I hear a "plink!" and know it reached the bottom.

"All right then, down we go," I whisper to myself, and drop feet first into the black room. Landing with a _thump _on the hard, stone floor, I realize it isn't pitch black, after all.

In fact, it's been lit up by several torches on the walls. Looking behind me, the "hall" cuts off to a dead end.

Grabbing a torch off of the wall, I begin walking toward wherever this thing leads to.

After a few minutes of walking, I hit a wall. "Hm…" I murmur. "Strange." Then, I catch a glint of metal from the corner of my eye, and walk over to it, shining the light of the torch by it so I could fully see what it was.

"Oh, great," I whisper when I figure out what it is. "A ladder. _So _futuristic. How about a teleporter, or something like that?"

Eventually, I decide to climb up, and see what's up there. When my head hits the ceiling, I spit out, "Crap it!" But the words are a little muffled because I was holding the sonic screwdriver in my mouth. I take it out and use it to scan the ceiling for a door. Eventually, I find it, and use my hand to push the slot of wood up.

I poke my eyes out of the ceiling (well, now I guess it's the _ground_) and find that I'm in a forest. I climb fully out of the tunnel, and the wooden door (which is cloaked as grass) slams shut.

_Well, all that was for-OH! _My negative thoughts abruptly stop when I see a little metal circle, about the size of my fist, by the trap door. Crouching down, I take out my sonic screwdriver and try to unlock it or something, but nothing happens. So I take the more "dangerous" risk, and touch it.

My hand burns at the touch, and I pull it back quickly, only to go back now that I'm prepared. "Strange," I whisper, brushing it softly, knowing it's some type of technology, but not quite knowing _what. _

Suddenly, when I look up, I realize about eight knights have surrounded me. "Ah, hello there!" I greet cheerfully, raising a hand in the air. "I'm new here and just…um, exploring the area. Sorry if I've trespassed on someone else's land, I didn't know. I'll just be going now."

I tried to walk out of the circle of knights, but the two I began to walk through held up their swords in an 'x' formation to block my path. "Okay, I'll stay then," I murmur, walking back to the middle of the circle.

Turning slowly around, I ask, "What do you want from me?"

None of them respond. None of them move. It looks like none of them are even _breathing. _

"All right then, answer me this: What's that silver plate on the ground?" I question them, and the same thing happens: No one answers, no one moves, and _maybe _they're breathing, but I can't really tell because they're under that metal armor.

"Okay…so you're okay if I do _this, _then?" Knowing this is a really stupid idea, but doing it anyway, I pull the sonic screwdriver out of my pocket, point it at the circle, and press the button. The "plate" starts to shake, and a few sparks come out of it. I keep going until one of the knights presses a tiny button on his wrist I hadn't noticed before, and a voice, but not his, says, "You have damaged property. We are permitted to attack."

"Oh _ho! _Attack, huh? So you don't like it when I do _this,_" I press the button on my sonic screwdriver again, and the plate sparks.

The knights begin to move forward, and at once, they all draw their swords. "All right, wonderful idea, Dawn," I murmur to myself. "You read a _ton _of books about swordsmanship, you practiced against a knight _robot _for hours a day, still do it now, have mastered it, but when the time comes you actually _need _the skill, you don't have a sword? Wonderful. Just _great._"

Just as I'm about to try my hand at kickboxing, a figure plops down from behind me. I turn my head slightly, and see a guy, probably Dusk's age, with blue hair, a long cape, and, _thankfully,_ he's holding a sword.

"Who are you?" I ask as the knights continue to close in.

"Marth, milady," He replies, and dodges the stab from an incoming knight.

"Ah, _you're _Marth!" I exclaim, remembering what Evelyn said earlier about having a brother.

"Yes," He grunted, swinging his sword and directly hitting a knight, knocking it to the ground. As he swings his sword all over the place, I nimbly dodge, and make my way over to the injured knight. Pulling his sword out of its hilt, I murmur, "Awesome."

"Well, Marth," I say, and we're now fighting the knights back to back. "It's a pleasure-look out!- to meet you, but I must," I dodge an attack from one of the "knights." "I must apologize that we're meeting-duck!-under such circumstances." I finish off the last night, stick my sword in the ground, push some bangs off of my forehead, and lean against the sword.

Marth laughs, and replies, "Well, now that those _circumstances _are over, I will introduce myself more formally." He bows, and the way his long-ish hair swooshes around his face when he does so makes me feel a little funny. "Prince Marth, at your service, milady."

I curtsy, and giggle, "I'm Dawn Melody. But you may call me Dawn."

"Pardon me asking, Dawn," Marth begins. "But I've never seen a young lady, or any female, for that matter, who knows the art of swordsmanship. Where did you learn?"

"Taught myself," I replied, standing a little taller. "When you're a girl on the streets, defense is a good skill to have."

"I agree," Marth replies, and I smile.

"Hey, thanks for helping me back there," I say suddenly, self-consciously pushing some bangs aside again. I _really _need to cut those. "I didn't have a sword on me."

"No problem, milady," Marth nods, and a small smile is on his face.

Suddenly, I notice the knights are _gone. _Seriously. _Gone. _

"Where did they go?" I murmur, walking up to investigate the spot the last night I defeated was.

"They probably went purple," Marth explained. At first, I thought he was joking, but his face was serious.

"Purple?" I ask, confusion taking over my expression.

"Yes," Marth replied. "You see, yesterday, I touched one of those plate things," He points to the piece of metal I touched earlier. "And had to take on an army of those knights. Honestly, they just _appeared. _Then, when I had defeated all of them, they _dissolved _onto the ground. Then, they turned into this purple glob, and the ground absorbed them. It was very strange."

"So since then, I've been out in this forest investigating, and I discovered there are four more plates, including this one, which I just found when I heard you talking."

"Ah," I murmured, and then said a little louder, "So, how did you get into the circle of knights? I didn't see you get in, you kind of just…were there, all of the sudden."

"Oh," Marth laughed, self-consciously scratching his neck. "I was watching from a tree, and when it looked like you needed help, I sort of just jumped down."

"Well thank you," I replied, nodding. "And your sword fighting skills are pretty good, too." I smiled smugly at him, and then added, "Of course, mine are better. The best teacher one can have is himself…or in my case, herself."

Marth laughed, "We'll see about that. I think it would be interesting to duel you sometime, Dawn."

"Yes," I began. "Very interesting. Very possible, too, considering the queen invited me to stay at the castle for a few days."

Marth's eyes widened. "Really? Well then, I'll make a deal with you. You duel me now, and if I win, I get to escort you back to the castle, and we'll have lunch. What do you want if you win?"

"Well, it's not an _if, _Marth, it's a _when,_" I smirked, and so did Marth. "But when I win, I'd like you to show me the rest of the places the plates are, _then _you can escort me back to the castle, and _then _we can have lunch, because I'm already starved."

"Deal," Marth laughs, and we shake hands.

I take the sword I stole from that one knight out of the ground, and take five steps away from Marth.

Smiling, I giggle, "Ready?"

"Set."

"Go!"

**Uh oh…looks like Dawn and Dusk are going to have their hands full.**

**What the heck is going on, you ask? Well, there's two ways you could put the answer to that question…**

**One: There's an unwelcome alien race on Muforam, and I'm not going to say anything else about that. ;)**

**Second answer: Dawn and Dusk shared a moment this morning, but could all of that change when Dawn meets Marth, and Dusk meets Emily? The sooner you review, the sooner you find out! :D I've decided to give you a little "sneak peek" every chapter, so here's the one for next chapter… ;)**

My head was spinning, my feet were numb, my stomach was full of butterflies, and tears were stinging at my eyes. Could it really get that much worse?

I soon found out the answer: Yes, yes it could.

I raised a hand, put it back down again, and spat out, "Don't _ever _talk to me again."

Then, I ran outside into the cool night air, and broke out onto the ground, crying.

**Hm…what could possibly go wrong? And who's POV was THAT? **

**REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 7: Complications

**Ello people! Here goes the next chapter...It's SO dramatic! But I love it! I've decided I'm going to give you a little intro in some chapters. Usually, they will be at the beginning of new adventures, but in this case, it's going to be here. The POV is someone you do not know yet...for now. It also takes place about three months before this chapter, because I forgot to add it in last chapter. Also, I made up that first article thing with the Shadow Proclamation...ha ha ha! The second one is true.**

**Sorry for the delay, but school has started... :( Anyway, ENJOY!**

**Chapter 7: Complications**

**Benatlis's POV-**

I tightly gripped my ribs, grimacing against the cold. It was winter in Muforam, and I was running an "errand" for my brother.

Quickly, I tapped a specific pavement square with my foot, unveiling the cloaking device. I glanced from side to side to make sure no one was watching, and then slipped through the trap door.

Grabbing a torch that was hanging on the tunnel's wall, I tapped yet _another _specific spot, and this cloaking device turned off, also. Waving a hand past the scanning pad, the shining silver doors to my people's base opened.

I tiptoed in, when a big, booming voice called, "What business do you have here, Benatlis?"

"Arashga told me you wanted to see me," I replied, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt. I had heard stories of my people who had come to see my master, and never come back.

"I do need to see you," Master chuckled.

You cannot _see _the master. He is just...there.

"Come forward, Benatlis. Into the light," Master rasped.

Despite every fiber in my being screaming in protest, I took a step forward, towards the dim light hanging from the ceiling. It was so cold I could see the breath streaming from my nose. Fear gripped inside me, because I knew that Master could destroy me with a flick of his finger.

"Ah, Bentalis," Master continued to rasp. "You are so young. Twenty, yes?"

I nodded. "Y-Yes Master."

"Do not stutter!" Master's voice boomed. It was strange how a voice so weak could sound so strong. "It is a sign of weakness! Now, come closer. Just...one...step."

I took one step forward, and my eyes widened at the sight I saw.

"Renishal!" I cried. "You're alive! But...how are you-"Silence, child," Renishal, the possible Master, whispered.

"Renishal is dead. I live within him. But no longer, for his body has grown old. Very, _very _old. And I need a new body to live within. So I have chosen...you."

Master's finger touched my forehead, and an agonizing pain coursed through my veins. I heard a voice scream, but I couldn't tell if it was mine, or the Master's. "Do not fear!" He rasped. "It is an honor to be chosen! You are young, and will last a long time."

And then, I couldn't feel anything at all. It was like I was...dead, but could still think.

"Ah," Master rasped. "Much...better."

**Dawn's POV-**

Laughing, I cried, "You'll have to do better than that, Marth!"

We were dueling in the forest, and it had been going on for about two minutes. Marth is actually a _very _worthy opponent.

Marth swung his sword by my feet, so I jumped over it. "Whoa, not going easy any more, eh?" Marth laughed, and my sword flew just by his ear.

We continued to fight, and I started forcing Marth towards a tree. He tried pushing us back, but it was like taking one step forward and then two steps back.

Finally, I cornered him by a tree, put myself out of his reach, and my sword finally was pointed just an inch away from his chest. "I win," I giggled.

Marth snorted. "That's because I let you!"

"Yeah right," I replied, smiling. "Now you've got to show me the rest of the plates you found." The second part of my sentence was more serious. No more fun and games. Let's get back to business.

"As you wish, milady," Marth laughed. "As soon as you lower your sword.

I giggled, and stuck the sword in the ground. "Oh, right. Sorry."

Marth smiled, and replied, "No problem, milady. Come, there's another plate just a little while from here."

"Awesome!" I exclaimed, ready to figure out what _exactly _was going on here. "Let's go!"

Marth and I had small talk while he led me to the next plate. I was mentally recording everything we passed, making landmarks and noting whenever we would turn. Slowly, a little map progressed in my wonderful Time Lord brain.

Marth did most of the talking. He said that his sister Evelyn was engaged to a man named Peter, which I know is a serious problem, because she actually loves Vaughn. At least everything turns out okay in the end.

Eventually, Marth asked, "All right, enough about me. What about you? Who exactly are you, Dawn Melody? And how did you get here in the middle of the forest?"

I smiled, knowing those questions would pop out eventually. They always do. Honestly, I wanted to answer, _I'm half Time Lady from the planet of Gallifrey. _Of course, Muforam is a Level Five planet, so they don't know about aliens...yet.

"Well, see," I started. "I found this...door, in the city, and it led to some tunnels. So I followed the tunnels, climbed up, and it brought me back there." I jabbed a thumb behind my shoulder. "I'm doing some investigating here in Muforam and other cities. I make my living as a detective," I added on the last part, just for fun. "Anyway, I touched the plate, and the knights sort of...appeared."

Marth nodded, and murmured, "The same thing has been happening to me. I look away, and then there they are: The knights. And they don't let me out of that tight circle for a really long time. The first time it happened, I continued to investigate the plate, and then they apparently thought I was tampering with it, so they started to attack. I fought back, of course."

"Then, the second time it happened, I decided to wait them out. At the crack of dawn this morning, they finally left. It was like one second they were there, the next...gone. Well, not like that, but you know what I mean. The knights dissolved in the blink of an eye."

A shudder passed through me, and I laughed, "They're like the Weeping Angels! Well, of course, the knights don't move each time you look away...most of the time they stay still. You know, the funny thing is, what would those knights want with a Level Five planet? I mean, you guys haven't even discovered big technology yet, so you're definitely not out in space or anything...unless I'm in the wrong time frame." I gasped, and then exclaimed, "Marth, what year is it?"

Marth gave me a funny look, and then cautiously replied, "Seven-teen sixty-three."

"Oh yes," I sighed. "Of course it is. The year of Queen Evelyn's marriage...brilliant girl, you know? And I thought I was getting on to something...oh, wait a second...you don't know what I'm talking about at all, do you?" I laughed at the last part, realizing I just let a Muforam know about a Weeping Angel about a thousand centuries before they were supposed to. Whoops.

"You are not who you say you are, Dawn," Marth sighed. It wasn't a question. It was a fact.

I turned around to face Marth, and replied, "No, Marth. No I'm not."

Finally, we made it to the second plate. "Ah," I whispered, leaning down to look at it. "Don't worry, I won't touch."

Closing my eyes, I quickly "drew" the map I had developed in my head. I realized this plate was about a mile away from the first one, and in a _perfectly _straight in line with it, too.

"All right, then!" I smiled at Marth. "Come on, we've got a lot more plates to look at!"

• • •

I held the green-ish blue dress up to my body. Looking in the mirror, I sighed. "Honestly," I murmured. "You'd think they would have something I actually _like _in this castle."

It's been four days since Dusk and I arrived at Muforam. I was in the guest room, trying on dresses. Marth and I had continued to look for plates that day, and all five of them turned out to be the point of a star. What that means, I have no idea.

Tonight, there's a "Moonlight Ball," which is a traditional dance the Queen throws when her eldest daughter is about to getting married soon. Dusk and I were invited, so I'm picking out a dress.

It's been bothering me that I haven't actually gotten _anywhere _with this whole mystery. Each time I get close to placing another puzzle piece, something messes me up, or another thing just doesn't fit. For example, one day, I went back to the tunnels, and explored them a little more carefully. I eventually found some hieroglyphics on the back wall, and the TARDIS translated them for me. But the only thing they turned out saying was "Death awaits you here." I know, really creepy, right? But I couldn't find anything else in the tunnels.

Another weird thing is that I seriously feel like someone is _stalking _me. Giving me clues, too. The other day, I went into the bathroom, and written on the mirror in purple paint was, "The tunnels, Dawn." I seriously almost screamed it scared me so much, and then decided it was just someone messing with me.

Not to mention someone _is _messing with me, just a little. I haven't talked to Dusk since we _got _here. He's always hanging out with his new little "girlfriend" Emily. He says she's just a friend, but it still hurts. I mean, the other day, didn't he kiss me?

Evelyn and I have also become quite close, after she looked up the definition of a red tulip, which happens to be "perfect love." She's always visiting me in my room, talking to me about the little compliment gruff ol' Vaughn said today, or the little gift he presented to her. Then, just before she leaves, she always says something like, "I honestly don't know why I bother you so much. It just feels like you want to listen."

I've read a ton of books about therapy though, so it's all good. Plus, listening to someone else's problems get solved makes me feel like mine will get solved soon, too.

Evelyn's not the only friend I've made, however. Marth has been there for me this whole week when Dusk hasn't. Well, I can't bring him on my little "expeditions," but we duel a lot, and he's always sitting by me at dinner, so I consider him a friend.

So, to sum it all up, so far I've found next to _nothing _out about this whole mystery, but I know something's up, every time Dusk stares at Emily with _that _look, it's like a stab in my heart, and I've made a few friends. Not so great, but it will do...for now.

There are three light knocks on my door, and a gentle voice says, "Dawn? Are you all right in there?" It's Evelyn.

"Yeah, I'm great, Evelyn!" I reply, smiling at her concerned voice.

"Do you need help picking out a dress?" Evelyn asked.

My first reaction was to say no, but then I actually thought about it. Do I _need _help picking out a dress? No. Would I _like _help picking out a dress? "Yes, please!" I giggled.

Evelyn opened the door, and her silver hair swished around her head. She was wearing a dark blue, long, elegant dress that would make any man swoon.

"You look beautiful, Princess," I smiled.

"Oh, Dawn," Evelyn laughed lightly. "You know you can call me Evelyn."

I smiled at her again, and Evelyn's gaze scanned over the dress I was looking at before. "Oh, Dawn," She sighed. "You're looking in the wrong places. See, some of the maids are quite selfish, and like to take the good dresses for themselves."

Evelyn walks over to my closet, and continues to explain, "So they hide them in the _back _of the closet, where no person in their right mind would look."

She pulled out a sky blue, ankle length dress, with a silver "cape" to match. "Wow," I whispered in awe. "_That's _what I was looking for!"

Evelyn giggled, and said, "Well, the ball is going to start soon, and I don't want you to be late. So how about you change into that, and I go wait for you in the hall?"

"Sounds great," I reply, smiling at her. "Just give me a few minutes."

Evelyn nods, curtsies, and then leaves. I chuckle, and then whisper, "The maids aren't the only ones who hide things in the back of the closet."

Walking quietly over to the closet, I pull out the sword I was using in the forest the other day, along with a hilt that I could easily pretend was a belt, if I hid the actual sword and hilt part behind my cape. It was big enough to fit my sonic screwdriver, too.

Then, I quickly change and head out to meet Evelyn. "Ready?" I nod in response.

She begins to walk me downstairs, to the palace's ballroom.

"So," I start in a whisper. "Do you plan on dancing with Vaughn tonight?" Evelyn smiles, and nods.

"If I can get away from Peter," She sighs. "I swear, he's a dog, the way he follows me around."

I laugh quietly, and then two servants open the door to the ballroom.

Of course, I already _know _what the ballroom looks like, because I've read countless descriptions in books, but the real thing still takes my breath away. "Wow," I whisper, yet again, in awe.

The ballroom's ceiling is gold, and the tile underneath is a creamy white. There are two long, red tables with drinks and little cakes at either side of the room, and several people are already there dancing. I spot Dusk and Emily by one of the tables, laughing. Dusk flips his hair ever so slightly and gives her _that _look again, and my stomach drops. I honestly think I might have to leave him here when it's time to go. I giggle slightly at the thought, but my feeling of dread at the idea cuts it off abruptly.

"If you need a breather," Evelyn whispers in my ear. "There's a secret door over in the corner, with a little swing in the tree I would always sit in as a kid. Just in case, you know?"

Evelyn gives me a sad smile, knowing how I feel about Dusk (Hey, even the best therapists need a therapist of their own, right?), and then says, "I guess I have to go see Peter now. Goodbye, Dawn."

I nod, and smile at her, waving her off. Evelyn leaves, and a little feeling of loneliness invades my two hearts.

Then, hands cover my eyes, and a familiar voice chuckles, "Guess who?"

I giggle, and reply, "Hi, Marth."

Marth takes his hands off of my eyes, and scowls. "No matter how well I disguise my voice, you always know it's me, don't you?"

I laugh, and Marth takes my hand. "May I have this dance?"

"Of course you may," I reply, and Marth leads me to the dance floor. Despite Dusk being gone, there are always _other _options, right? Marth is the one who always fills up that hole of loneliness after all, so why not be happy while I can?

We dance for a while, in a comfortable silence, not an awkward one. I don't mean to sound "romantic" or anything, but it feels really funny when someone who has strong arms is holding you. Like with the slightest movement, they could snap you as if you were a twig, but you know they won't, simply because of the gentle movements you make when dancing.

My eyes scan the ballroom. Dusk and Emily are dancing (not that I'm surprised or anything), and so are Evelyn and Vaughn. _Good for her, _I think. _She finally got away from Peter. _

Suddenly, a flash of silver catches my eye. I look over at a _knight. _Not just any knight, but one of _those _knights, one of the knights that "attacked" me in the forest. He was by the door in the corner that Evelyn was talking about.

"Turn," I murmured to Marth, wanting to get a closer look.

Marth gave me a confused look, but turned just the same.

"Don't look now," I whispered. "But there's a _knight _in the ballroom."

"One of those?" Marth whispers back.

I nod, and we both glance over at the knight at the exact same time. "They aren't supposed to be here," Marth mutters.

I nod again, and then casually ask, "Marth, how often do you carry around a sword?"

Marth smirks and lifts of the edge of his cape, revealing a sword. I smile back, and lift up _my _cape, and Marth chuckles quietly. "You sure are different from other girls, Dawn."

I nod, and glance over at Dusk. He and Emily are simply talking now, no longer dancing. I have to admit, Emily is _very _pretty, and I don't have anything against her at all. It's Dusk I'm worried about. If he's going to get a girlfriend on every adventure we go on, one day he'll get very attached and then...stay.

"Here's the plan," I whisper to Marth. "You check the ballroom for more knights, I'll see if I can get Dusk to help me with that one." I jerk my head over at the knight.

Marth nods, and then swiftly starts walking around the perimeter of the ballroom. I head over to where Dusk is standing with Emily.

Half of me is hoping that Dusk will come investigate with me. He hasn't helped in days. The other half is hoping he'll stay with Emily, because Dusk isn't _my _Dusk anymore. He's...different, around her, to put it lightly. He acts like someone he's not.

I bounce over to where they're standing, and clear my throat. Emily smiles sweetly at me, and honestly, I don't think she has anything against me either.

Dusk gives me a curious look, and asks, "What's up?"

"There are some knights here," I whisper to him. "The ones I told you about."

Dusk's eyes light up, and I realize some of _my _Dusk is back. "You want to investigate?" He asks.

_YES! _My thoughts scream _Finally! _I nod, smiling. "Emily, you can come too if you want...?" I trail of a little, but Emily shakes her head.

"I think I'll stay, if you don't mind," Emily shrugs. "I'm not exactly cut out for the "detective" business." She gives me that one look that says I-totally-get-that-you-don't-want-me-there-and-I'm-okay-with-that. To top it off, she winks when Dusk isn't watching. I smile back at Emily, glad she understands. See what I mean? Emily's innocent enough.

"Let's go!" Dusk laughs, grabbing my arm.

"Uh, Dusk," I giggle. "You don't even know where you're going!"

He stops in his tracks. "Oh, yeah, right...forgot. Lead the way!"

The little hole of loneliness is filled with happiness...for now. I'm sure _my _Dusk will go back to being _Emily's _Dusk a little bit later.

I lead him over to the door, and approach the knight. Whispering, "Watch this," to Dusk, I walk up to the knight a say, "Why _hello _there! Do you recognize me?"

No reply. No movement. Maybe he really _isn't _breathing.

I motion for Dusk to come closer. "Okay then, what are you doing here this time?"

"Objective is irrelevant," The knight says.

"Oooh," I murmur. "He _talks!_" Dusk chuckles, and I continue, "If the objective is _irrelevant, _tell me this: Why are the plates in the forest shaped like a star?"

"Question is irrelevant," The knight stiffly replies.

"Really?" I laugh. "Then why am I asking it?"

"Question is irrelevant," The knight says.

I groan, and knock on the knight's metal helmet. "How are you talking, anyway? I don't think you're alive, right?"

The knight doesn't even say anything this time.

"Let me try something," Dusk suddenly murmurs. I nod, and he walks up to the knight. "By order of the Article twenty-seven point eight in the Shadow Proclamation, we demand that you answer our questions. All Arenae-based creatures will answer questions of a higher class alien."

My mouth drops open, and I stare at Dusk. "How the _heck _do you know about the Shadow Proclamation? For that matter, how do you know about Article twenty-seven point eight, and even _more _specifically, how do you know about Arenae-based aliens? And how do you know this is one of them?"

"I'll explain later," Dusk chuckles quietly.

My head is spinning. Well _that _was a surprise.

"Who is the higher class alien?" The knight asks.

"I am," I reply. "My name is Dawn Melody of Gallifrey. I am a Time Lady."

"I am here because of direct orders from the Master," The knight began, and I realized he was answering my questions. "The plates are in the shape of a star because of the Latia flag. The reason you are asking questions is unknown."

"That's it!" I gasp. "The Latia! Otherwise known as shapeshifters...but what would they be doing here?" Dusk gives me a curious look, so I say, "Later."

"You now know important information. You must be disposed of," The knight says stiffly.

"Disposed of?" I laugh. "Oh, please. I'm just going to do this!" I pull out my sword and literally cut him in half, now knowing his weak point because I know of the Latia species. The knight starts to lunge at me, but then, the whole "purple glob" process happens all over again.

"How did you do that?" Dusk exclaims.

"Weak point," I reply, sticking the sword back in its hilt. "So now answer _my _questions. How the _heck _do you know about the Shadow Proclamation and all that, Dusk?"

He chuckles, and then explains, "Well...see, I haven't been befriending Emily just to be friends with her. The first day I met her, I touched one of the plates. The one by the path up to the castle, you know?"

I nod, so he continues, "The knights surrounded us, of course. But Emily said something...it didn't _sound _human. It was more of a hissing, raspy noise, and it sort of reminded me of the way the Mazai would talk. So I started to think about how you said the TARDIS translates alien language, and I thought maybe Emily...isn't who we think she is."

I smile, knowing that we're getting somewhere. "But that still doesn't explain about the Shadow Proclamation!" I giggle.

"Oh, yeah," Dusk laughs. "Right. See, Emily brought me to her room one day so we could talk. But then some 'head maid' or something called her off, and I decided to investigate a little. I found this book called 'Arenae-based Aliens,' and of course, it sparked my attention.

"So I flipped to a random page, and there was this little section that talked about how article twenty-seven point eight stated that all aliens of a higher class than Arenae-based aliens have the right to order them around, as long as they told the Arenae about the article."

"So you don't _really _know about the Shadow Proclamation," I realized, nodding. "Got it. You just know about that specific article."

Dusk nods. "I didn't get to read anymore though, because Emily was coming back, so I had to put the book away."

"Jason James, you are a _genius, _being so brilliant like that!" I giggle. "But how come you didn't tell me?"

"Well...I don't know," Dusk replied, looking at the ground. "I felt...weird, doing it behind Emily's back. And I thought you would be angry with me."

"Well of course I'm angry with you," I laugh. "But I'm not going to show it, because the idea itself is brilliant."

Dusk flashes me one of those trademark smiles, and I continue, "But I think you're right, Dusk...maybe Emily _isn't _who we think she is. And...well, that's another thing I want to talk to you about."

Dusk gives me one of those wait-what-do-you-mean looks, so I quietly explain, "I didn't bring you on these trips so that you could meet and greet with every girl you see. If one day, you get..._too _attached, you're probably going to ask me if you can stay. And I can't do that. You have a home, it's called Earth."

Dusk glares at me ever so slightly, and replies, "I don't _like _Emily like that. And I'm never going to like _anyone _like that, for that matter."

Truthfully, Dusk is making me just a _little _angry right now.

"Oh, so that kiss on the cheek you gave me the other day? Then what was _that _about?" I snap back.

"That was nothing," Dusk scoffs, and it pierces my heart a little. _Nothing. _

"So I assume you holding hands with _her _all the time is _nothing _either, huh?" I retorted. My eyes were narrowed into a glare.

"_Nothing_," he replied icily, and then he laughed humorlessly. "All this coming from the girl who goes and butters up the blue haired idiot of Muforam. He's a lovesick puppy, Dawn! What were you thinking?"

"I was _thinking,_" I started, and a tiny voice in my head added, _unlike you. _"That he would be a good friend, and a valuable ally. I was also getting the impression that you didn't want anything to do with me anymore. What was that for? You didn't have to ignore me!"

"Sounds like _somebody's _jealous," Dusk retorted. "I didn't ignore you! I was investigating."

"I'm _not _jealous," I reply, and my voice sounds icy, even to me. "You're the one who brought up the subject of Marth. I'm just trying to gain these people's trust, Dusk."

Dusk glares at me, and responds, "You're just a lonely little girl who's scared of her nightmares. What's going to happen next? You're going to leave me here with Emily and take Marth with you?" I see a flash of fear cross over his face, but he looks away.

"That's what you're scared of?" I ask gently, holding my hand up to touch his arm. He yanks it away.

"I'm _not _scared," Dusk hisses. "I'd _rather _have it happen than have to travel with you."

My hand drops to my side, and tears were stinging at my eyes. I bite my lip. That was _low, _and he knew it, too.

Before we go on, let me explain something: In this galaxy, there are two types of calm: Calm, as in relaxed, and then there's scary calm. The type of calm _before _the storm. Right now, I'm _terrifyingly _calm.

Dusk looks like he regretted those words a little for a split second, and then the mask of anger is back on.

Tears were stinging at my eyes, my stomach was full of butterflies, and my head is spinning. "Don't _ever _talk to me again," I whisper to him, and a tear slides down my cheek.

My heart melts a little when Dusk's face falls, and I hear him whisper, "I'm sorry," As I race out the door in the corner.

I fly out into the night, and see the tree swing Evelyn was talking about. I break down onto it, crying, because everything Dusk said was true: I _am _a lonely little girl who's scared of nightmares. And I _was _afraid I would have to leave Dusk, and I _am _going to take Marth along, if he wants to.

But now, none of that matters. Because when you lose someone like that, and even if you've only known him or her for a week, it hurts. _So _badly.

I cried silently, bawling my heart out about _everything. _And even thought this may be hard to believe, I haven't cried since the night my Mum left me. And you know what? It feels good.

**AW, right? And yeah, I changed the dialogue of the sneak peek a little...sorry. **

**You may be thinking, "Oh my gosh! What's going to happen now?" Well, the sooner you review, the sooner I will be motivated to write the next chapter. And it will be a very **_**sweet **_**one, let me tell you that. **

**Oh yeah, you may be wondering what the Arenae-based aliens are...all will be revealed next chapter. ;)**

**This isn't really a sneak peek, it's more of a glimpse at Dusk's thoughts. But here you go!**

I watched as Dawn raced out the door tonight. And let me tell you, it _hurt. _I honestly don't know what came over me.

Because truthfully, I _am _jealous, but I'm also torn. With Dawn, I feel so...right. She's like the one who is always there to cheer you up, you know?

And then there's Emily. We'll have those few precious moments where everything clicks into place. Like the one day she was wearing the blue bandana that looks like my Mum's, I almost cried. But she was there, like Dawn, to cheer me up. And I think that's why I like her. Because she reminds me of not only Lily, but also Dawn.

The thing is, I also feel a little awkward around Emily. I don't know why...I just do.

I think I'm going to try apologizing after the dance, because I don't want to make a big scene, and maybe Dawn just wants to be alone. But I really, really, _really _hope she hasn't already raced off in the TARDIS with Marth.

Because that's the _last _thing I want to happen.

Gosh, I'm _such _a liar.

**Hm...that's all I'm going to give you, because anything else would be a spoiler! Review!**

**P.S. Sorry for sloppy editing, I was in a rush to get this to you. **


	9. Chapter 8: Discoveries

**WOOT! A new chapter! :) So exciting, so fast! Okay, so I hope you like this chapter...I love it, like most other chapters. I hope it all clicks in the beginning for ya, because I've been giving **_**tiny **_**hints about what's going on. Anyway...enjoy!**

**Chapter 8: Discoveries**

**Dawn's POV-**

There was a light knock on my door.

It was about an hour after I ran outside crying. I finally decided after about half an hour to come back and try to sleep, but it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

I sluggishly got up off of the bed, and walked over to the door. Mustering up all the calmness I had left, I sniffled, and then asked, "Who's there?" Without opening the door.

"It's me," Dusk said through the door.

I bit my lip, but then decided to reply, "I'm not opening the door."

"I know," Dusk murmured, and I could barely hear him.

"Dawn?"

"_What, _Dusk? If you're here to make me miserable, it's too late. You already did," I laughed humorlessly. I don't know why. It just felt right.

"I'm not here to make you any more sad," Dusk explained. "I...I wanted to say I'm _sorry. _And I'm a _jerk. _A big, _huge_, jerk_. _And a liar, too. I am jealous of Marth, and I like Emily, but if I had my choice, I'd _always _go with you, no matter what happens."

My heart shattered. A fresh wave of tears went down my face, and I shakily replied, "Why should I believe you?"

"I...don't know. I wouldn't blame you if you never talked to me again!" Dusk exclaimed. "Please...just know this: Remember when I kissed you the other day?"

I could _feel _Dusk leaning against the door, his forehead touching it. We were in the same position. One of the things about Time Ladies and Lords is that sometimes, we can feel the energy of others around us, but only if they're experiencing _lots _of emotion.

I raised a hand to "touch" his, which was resting on the other side of the door. "Yes?" I whispered.

"That kiss wasn't _nothing. _It was _everything._"

My heart completely melted, and a sense of warmness spread over me. I opened my eyes, and looked at my body: There were nanogenes all over it. I laughed without making a sound, and whispered through the door, "I forgive you, Dusk. Just...don't expect me to go all buddy-buddy again."

If a smile could make a noise, Dusk's would. "Thanks!" He replied.

"And how are you doing this?" I ask.

"The nanogenes?" Dusk asks.

"Yeah."

"Um...I'm not sure. It just felt like you emotionally needed some healing," Dusk explained.

"Goodnight, Dusk," I chuckled, and walked back to my bed, feeling a little bit lighter on my feet than before. I mentally thank Nitero, knowing that she probably couldn't hear me, but she _does _still exist within Dusk.

• • •

"Good-moooooorning!" I cried as I skipped to the castle's breakfast table.

Dusk patted the chair next to him, and I was overflowed with the feeling of happiness. _My _Dusk was back.

He flashed me one of his signature grins, and then replied, "Hey, Dawn."

The King sat at the end of the _huge _table, with Queen Marissa by his side. My eyes scanned the table, and I saw Emily sitting with one of her maid friends. She flashed me a smile when we made eye contact, but that's not _really _what I was noticing. She was wearing a blue bandana...

I continued to scan the table, and noticed Marth wasn't here. Curiosity got to me, so I whispered to Evelyn, who was on my left, "Where's Marth?"

She gave me a side-glance, and then replied quickly, "We don't know. He was at the ball last knight, but...he didn't come back."

Concern struck me like a bag of rocks. My eyes widened, and I immediately thought of how I sent him to look for other knights at the party. What if...they weren't the only things there?

Emily's father, Arashga, who is one of the head knights (not _those _knights, but the real ones), suddenly cleared his throat, and said, "Excuse me, but I think I shall go and use the loo."

Dusk snorted, so I elbowed him. That just made him chuckle even more, and I couldn't help but smile ever so slightly.

Arashga headed down the left hallway.

_Wait a second, _I thought. _He headed left...the bathroom is to the right. The left hallway leads to the kitchen. _

My photographic memory took over, so I squeezed my eyes closed, and looked through what pictures I had of Arashga walking down the hallway.

_Zoom. _

I looked closely at his hand, and say a tiny little vile filled with lighting blue liquid. I realized it was _venitle fluid, _a type of poison that gives a human body too much sugar to work with. When Time Lord and Ladies regenerate, they also have a type of glittery gold stuff that they breathe out of their mouths. That's like venitle fluid in dusty, gas form, and it's gold instead of blue.

A Mazai's venom is based off of venitle fluid, which is why Dusk got that reaction when he was bitten.

My eyes opened, and I saw chefs coming out of the kitchen with food. One of the dishes was glowing slightly more than the others, so I immediately knew _that _was the one that had the venitle fluid in it.

Arashga sat back down in his seat, and I was tempted to glare at him, because if I have to do what I think I'm going to have to do, it might hurt a little.

I rolled my eyes, and just before everyone, _including _the King, who had the glowing dish, took a bite, I screamed, "Oh my gosh! There's a mouse on the floor!"

Evelyn squealed, the Queen pulled her legs up, all of the maids moved away from the table, and the King looked under the table. And luckily, there was a flash of lighting outside that made everyone scream. What a wonderful distraction!

Dusk glanced over at me, so I winked, and then crawled under the table. Once, I even bumped into Emily, who was searching for the "mouse." I smiled at her, put a finger to my lips, and then continued to where the King was sitting.

I heard a big _bang, _and realized it must be thunder. Wonderful, it's going to _rain. _I haven't seen rain in eight years! Cool!

Finally, I reached the King's place, quickly snatched his plate, and crawled with one hand back to my spot, slinking out from under the table, and plopping the plate down in the empty space in front of me.

Wait...it was _empty. _I glanced at Dusk, who was chuckling at the scene in front of him. Then, I looked at Emily. She was smiling mischievously, and glanced over at the King's spot, who now had my old plate. I looked back at Emily, and this time it was _her _turn to put a finger to her lips. I grinned hugely back, and mouthed the word, "Thanks."

One maid eventually shouted, "It's okay, we found the mouse! It's dead!"

Wow, there really _was _a mouse in the house? What a coincidence...

"Get that piece of vermin out of the castle!" The King boomed. The head maid nodded, and carried a little bundle of brown fur wrapped in cloth out of the dining hall.

The Queen thanked all of the cooks, and everyone started to eat their breakfast of waffles, eggs, and fruit. Mine, however, was very unappetizing, because I knew what was in it. But if I wanted no one else to eat or touch it, _I _had to fork it down. Wonderful.

I picked up a fork, and started to eat. Of course, it tasted delicious. Venitle fluid doesn't have a funky taste or anything, and that's why people never notice it's in their food.

I continued to eat because I was so hungry, and sure enough, I soon got a case of the jitters. Eventually, everyone was done, and during a polite conversation, I interrupted, "Sorry, everyone. Do you mind if Dusk and I step out for a moment?"

Dusk smiled at me. He knew by now that something was up. He never gives me those what-are-we-doing looks anymore, he just goes with it.

The Queen replied, "You are excused."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, I bolted out of the dining room, and Dusk followed. I was leading him to the place I knew no one else would be: My room. I just hope we make it there in time.

Eventually, we stormed into my room, and I was jumping up and down energetically. "Okay, what did you do this time, Dawn?" Dusk laughed.

"Don't laugh!" I giggle, despite my words. "I, uh, ate some 'poison,' and it has the same type of effect that your snake bite does."

Concern flashed over Dusk's face, and he reached for me, but I laughed, "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt that much." _That _was a complete lie, of course it hurt, but it wasn't as bad as the pain I felt when Stellia let the snake venom flow through me that one time.

"Us Time Ladies have a very interesting way of dealing with these situations. Having two hearts helps, too...just don't be alarmed if my face changes or something."

"You mean you're _regenerating_?" Dusk cried. I had explained the concept to him over lunch, while we were in France.

"Not sure," I replied, smiling. "It might kill me, might not. Really depends on...if...I can...do this!" I smiled even wider at the last part, and hacked up some venitle gas. I could feel some of the extra energy ebbing away already, and I sighed. "Better."

I continued to breathe normally, and golden dust flowed out of my mouth. "Can't I do anything to help? Like use nanogenes?" Dusk asks.

I shook my head, still jogging in place. "Oh no, don't waste those on me!" I reply. "I think...I should be..." I breathed out some more gas. "Okay!" I plopped down on the floor, the last of the venitle gas gone. "Much better."

Dusk chuckles, and I smile at him. "My face didn't change, did it? No new weird figure or anything either, right?"

Dusk carefully checks me over, and then replies, "Well, you look a little tiny bit...older, somehow."

"That's normal," I laugh. "Sometimes, when I would wake up in the TARDIS, I'd look a year older. It usually happens around my birthdays. If I don't regenerate, it just happens during sleep. Or, in this case, when there's venitle fluid in my body. How _much _older, exactly?"

"I don't know," Dusk narrows his eyes. "I mean...your hair is about an inch longer, and you kind of just look...different. I'm probably the only one that will notice, since I'm around you so much."

"All completely normal," I smile. Getting up, I fluff my hair a little in the mirror, and immediately notice what Dusk means. I look like more of a thirteen-year old now than a twelve-year old. Yes! Now, maybe people will take me a little more seriously.

"Okay, come on, then," I sigh. "Let's go."

As we walk back to the breakfast table, I quietly explain to Dusk, "I think the _knights _may have Marth."

"Why would you think that?" Dusk asks.

"He wasn't at breakfast today, and, well...last night, I asked him to help investigate." I shrugged afterward, and Dusk looked a little bit hurt. "He's not replacing you, don't worry," I scowled, rolling my eyes. "But anyway, I'm wondering if the knights weren't the only thing at the ball last knight."

"What do you mean?" Dusk asked.

"See," I start to explain. "The King almost got poisoned today, so that's why I started the whole distraction thing. I had to switch out our plates so that _I _was the one who got the poison, not him. Arashga was the one who was trying to poison him."

"Why would Emily's dad do that, though?" Dusk wondered.

"I'm wondering the same thing," I whisper, even though it's a lie. I think I know _exactly _what's going on here.

"Dawn, what are the Latia, exactly? Didn't that knight talk about it yesterday?" Dusk questions me.

"I knew you'd ask that eventually," I flash a smile at him. "The Latia are kind of what you humans call shape shifters. They can change their shape, _and_ race_, _for that matter. Like in those science fiction shows, you know? So I think the Latia are using the Arenae-based aliens to do the dirty work...while really, the only danger in this castle is-"Dawn!" A voice interrupts. Dusk and I were back in the breakfast hall, and Evelyn was looking straight at us.

I noticed everyone else was gone, and realized Dusk and I must have missed the rest of breakfast. "Hey, Evelyn!" I smiled warmly at her.

"D-Do you know where Marth is?" She whispered, and I saw a tear slide down her cheek. "I'm worried about him."

I walked to her side, laced my fingers with hers, squeezed her hand, and replied, "Don't worry, Evelyn. Dusk and I will find him!"

She nodded, and laughed, "Yes, I suppose I am overreacting. I'm just worried because-," A big _bang _of thunder interrupts Evelyn, and she continues, "That."

"Don't worry!" I repeat. "We've got it all under control." I gesture to Dusk and myself. "But for now," I whisper, walking over to Dusk. "I need you to work without me. Go down to the ballroom; look for any signs of a struggle. Like...blood." I shudder at the thought, and then hand Dusk my sonic screwdriver. "Use this if there are any locked doors."

"Are you sure?" Dusk asks.

I nod, smiling. "Yeah, take it. You'll be fine. And if...for some reason something happens, get to Sweetie if you can, and if you can't, no biggie! I'll get you out!"

Dusk smiles, and then replies, "Gosh, Dawn. I can take care of myself. You can't always be superman. Or...woman, in your case."

I wink at Dusk, and giggle, "Of course not. Maybe I'll put myself in danger just so you can come get me. But no promises. See you later!"

I skip down the hall, and hear Dusk cry, "Wait, what are you doing?" But I ignore it.

Eventually, I reach my guest bathroom, and the door is open. Before entering, I whisper, "All right girl_, _what do you have for me this time?"

Pushing the door open, I cautiously look around, before my attention to the mirror. And of course, written in dark purple paint, were the words, "Meet me in the castle library at eleven o'clock."

I smile, and raise a hand to touch the paint. Some of it gets on my fingertips. "Fresh," I whisper. "Good."

I eventually leave the bathroom, take a deep breath, and think. Because sometimes, that's just what Time Lords and Ladies just need to do.

_Okay, what do I know? _

_There are tunnels that are apparently dangerous, Emily helped me this morning, there are new messages and clues on the mirror each day, and Marth is missing. It's also going to storm soon. The plates are shaped like a star, which is the symbol of the Latia species. So if there are Latia people in the castle, who are they? Arashga tried to poison the King this morning with Venitle Fluid, which can actually only be found in Mazai venom, a Time Lord or Ladie's regeneration process, and on earth, at the very _bottom _of oceans. So Arashga must have gotten the Venitle fluid from Earth. But how is that possible? _

"I'm missing something," I whisper, putting a hand to my forehead. "Come on, think _harder._ Time to make some connections."

_So if Arashga tried poisoning the King, maybe he's the one who took Marth, too. But what would he need Marth and the King for? Well, besides the obvious fact of ransom...wait a second...family. Marth and the King are family, just like Arashga is Emily's father. But Dusk told me a while ago that Emily's whole family is working here. A huge, tight knit group of family members. So why stay so tight? Because they're different? Different _how?

"_Latia!_" I cry, and it all _makes sense. _Just like _that. _Gosh, I can't get over how brilliant, bizarre, and baffling my brain is. The Latia, Marth, The King, the words on the mirror, who's writing them, the venitle fluid, the star, the plates...the blue bandana.

I glance at the grandfather clock in front of me: ten fifty-five.

"I've got to get to the library," I whisper, and start racing upstairs to where Evelyn told me the library was on our "tour."

I knew exactly whom I was going to see, and how they were going to help me. Well, I don't know how they will help me, but maybe I'll get some questions answered.

I burst threw the library, gasping for air, and a girly voice laughed, "Wow, Dawn, you're here early. I believe we have some things to talk about."

I smiled brightly at Emily, my unspoken friend, my ally, my answer.

"Yes, Emily. I think we do, also."

• • •

**WOAH! Okay, be honest: Who saw it coming? :D Was it **_**too **_**obvious? **

**Any predictions for the next chapter? I actually have several ideas of what will happen, so stay tuned... ;) Here's your sneak peek:**

I raced outside, with Evelyn by my side. Lighting flashed above us, and thunder boomed away.

"Sorry, Dawn, but what exactly do you want me to see?" Evelyn asked.

I laughed, and then explained, "Look up."

Up. Have you ever that's the one place never bother to look?

The forest around us was being pelted by rain, yet we were dry.

"Oh my goodness, what on Muforam is happening? How are we dry?" Evelyn cried.

I smiled at her, and replied, "The Latia have been plotting this whole thing, using sonic devices to create a safety layer for the force field all around the castle, in the shape of a star. No one gets in, no one gets out. But that's okay, because you have everything you need: Me."

Evelyn gives me a blank stare, so I say, "Basically...run."

**He he he...you gotta love Dawn. :) Does she remind anyone else of the Tenth Doctor? REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 9: The Girl in the Library

**Yay, a new chapter! Hope you like it. ;) Sorry about all of the • • • symbols in this chapter, it's necessary! And oh yes...remember how I said this chapter **_**may **_**be a little AU compared to the television show? Keep that in mind this chapter. ;)**

**Chapter 9: The Girl in the Library**

Emily smiled sweetly at me, and I returned it. Then, we both burst out giggling.

"Gosh, what are we laughing about?" I eventually spit out, wiping at some tears in my eyes.

"I don't know," Emily replies, and then her face falls a little. "Maybe it's because we both know of the danger to come."

I nod, and smile sadly at Emily. "So," I start in a whisper. "What do you want to talk to me about?" As if I didn't already know half of it.

"If you haven't figured out already," Emily whispers. "I'm not who you think I am."

"You are Princess Emily of Latia," I nod, and curtsy slightly. "I'm pleased to meet you."

She giggles, and replies, "Yes, I am a Princess. But I cannot say that I am as wise, pretty, or worthy as Evelyn is. Because I am a traitor to my own family."

"Explain," I nod. "From the beginning. Please."

So Emily begins her long story...

"My family was once a very respected, very highly spoken of royal family. Until the war came to our planet, and my father was too afraid to stay and fight." She sighed. "He is a _coward_, running like that. So my whole family fled in a spaceship, and we landed on-"Earth," I interrupt, knowing what was coming next.

"Yes," Emily nods. "For a while, all was well. We split up, and my father worked as-"The local librarian," I interrupted again. It all made sense now.

"Yes," Emily whispered, and a tear slid down her cheek. "He would call me Lily, to keep our identity secret. And then Jason came."

"And you learned to love humans," I whisper, and Emily nods. "The little girl in the library...all along, it was you. Your family finally got the chance to go home, but you ran just before the ship left, wanting to stay with your friend Jason in his hardest time."

"You were the dog," I murmur. Emily starts to cry silently. "The cat...and he never knew. The only hint you ever gave him was the blue bandana that you're wearing now."

Emily nods, and I wrap her in a hug. "Oh, Emily," I whispered. "The little girl in the library who hid from her alien family, not wanting them to track her down. Not taking the risk to show her best friend who she really is. Why did you do it?"

"B-Because I love him," Emily mumbles, crying into my shoulder. "He was always _there._ He's my best friend."

"Eventually they found you," I continue. "And now look at the mess you're in! Torn between helping your family, or helping your only friend."

I break away, and Emily wipes her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "But that's not all I need to tell you," She eventually says, her face grave.

"My father tried to poison the King this morning," She admits. I nod. "And you knew. So I helped. But how did you survive?"

"Heh," I laughed. "Time Lady Dawn, at your service."

"That's what I expected," Emily smiled. "That's the only way Jason could've gotten here, is with a TARDIS."

"My father took Marth," Emily continues. "I told him not to. He's doing a DNA swap, Dawn! That's why he needs the King, too!"

I slapped a hand to my forehead. "Oh, of _course!_" I cry. "He needs the King's DNA for himself, and Marth's for...?"

"My brother, Taran," Emily finishes.

"Got it," I reply. "But he needs them to make a shape shift body, right?"

Emily nods. "So that's what he wants," I whisper. "To start a new Kingdom here on Muforam with no one knowing it's really him."

"Yes," Emily whispers. "But that's not all. He wants the whole _family _to be a part of the royal family. He's taking all of these innocent people, _all _of the King's family, and he's going to give us their DNA."

"But the transfusion kills them!" I cry, and put a hand to my mouth when I think of Marth. He could be _dead _by now. "Oh, no," I whisper.

"Your friend, Marth, he is alive," Emily whispers. My head snaps up and I look for a very long time at Emily, until she finally explains, "Father wants all the transfusions done at once. He has a plan, Dawn. But he doesn't know _half of it._" Her expression grows angry.

"Emily," I whisper. "Who are you going to be?"

She angrily wipes a tear from her cheek. "I...I...have _different _plans than the others. I am to donate my body to my father's Master."

"What do you mean?" I ask. "Since when does the King of Latia have a Master?"

"Since he brought my family home," Emily whispers. "They have been following his lead ever since. But he is not trustworthy, Dawn Melody. He takes people's lives away, because with each step he takes, he grows older...and older, and older. I have seen him with my own eyes. And tonight, he will perform a DNA transfusion with _me, _so that he will stay young forever. He has some power that allows him to live within a body. Like a shape shifter, but he never grows. He's been waiting for the right body, taking those of my family and using them up as if they are nothing. Apparently, he's been waiting for _me._ "

"B-But," I stutter. "That's completely _mad!_"

"He _is _completely mad!" Emily cries.

"I can help you, Emily," I whisper. "I can bring you to my TARDIS and hide you. Trust me, please."

"I cannot," Emily replies, glancing down. "I will not betray my family again."

"Well then I can't help," I apologize.

"But that's okay!" Emily looks up at me, and smiles. "Because I can help _you. _We may not be able to stop my family, but we can stop my father from taking the lives of these people. I was thinking-,"

Her voice is cut off by the sound of slow, loud, clapping. "Wonderful show, Emily!" A man's voice laughs. I see Emily's face fall as she looks over my shoulder, and I whip around.

There's an old man leaning against the doorframe. "What are you doing here?" Emily growls.

"I am welcome to go where I please," The man snaps. "As for you...it seems your time is up. The transfusion will begin sooner than anticipated, because someone's been a naughty little girl!"

Emily glares at the man, and I grab her hand. "Don't be afraid," I whisper in her ear. "You'll be okay. I promise."

Emily gives me one glance, and replies, "It's been very nice meeting you, Dawn. I'm afraid I must leave, now, though." There is a double meaning behind those words, and her courage makes my heart shatter.

"And it has been good meeting you, also, Emily," I whisper.

Her "master" walks up to Emily and places a finger on her forehead. Emily screams, and falls to the floor. I wonder why her Master is still standing, because if he were performing a transfusion, his body would be the one on the floor.

"Fear not, young one," the old man rasped. "Your friend is not gone...yet. But I am afraid I cannot say the same for what will become of you."

I held in laughter. "_Young one_?" I scoffed, putting a hand to my mouth to hide a smile. "Oh, I may be young, but not in the way you're putting it. I'm much, _much _more wise than your average kid, 'master.'"

"Oh yes?" the old man chuckles. "Then what planet am I from?"

"Gallifrey," I reply casually, picking at a little scab on my arm. I could've sworn I saw a flash of surprise flash through his eyes, but it was gone in one second flat.

"House?" The Master asked.

"The House of Oakdown," I stated.

"How do you know of this, child?" The Master demands.

"Why are you here?" I don't answer his question.

"You will answer _my _question, first," The Master spat.

I cleared my throat. "Sure," I replied sarcastically.

"Enough!" The Master booms. "It is time for you to leave, you ignorant little child!"

"You're scared of me," I giggle. "That's great...you should be."

As I said this, I slowly backed toward the window, and once more glanced at Emily. _She's alive, _I thought. _Just like Marth. And hopefully Dusk. _

"Bye bye!" I waved, and fell backwards out the open window. I laughed as I fell, looking at the Master's bewildered expression looking out the window.

First, I reached for my sonic screwdriver, but realized I had give it to Dusk earlier. Deciding to improvise, I grabbed on to a nearby flag about four feet off of the ground, hung from that for a few seconds, then dropped down into some bushes.

Brushing some dust off of my dress, I whispered, "Well, that was risky. But fun."

Glancing up once more, I realized I didn't have time.

Because it was already raining.

Yet I was still dry.

I smiled slightly to myself, and ran inside the castle.

"Evelyn!" I yelled, searching for my friend. Several maids turned to look at me, and even the Queen gave me a curious glance.

I finally found her in the dining room, and she asked, "Whatever is the matter, Dawn?"

"Come with me," I giggle, despite the incredibly dangerous situation we were in.

I pulled Evelyn outside, and she cried, "What's wrong?"

I didn't reply, and we raced out into the field. Lighting flashed above us, and thunder boomed away.

"Sorry, Dawn, but what exactly do you want me to see?" Evelyn asked, breathless.

I laughed, and then explained, "Look up!"

Up. Have you ever noticed that's the one place people never bother to look?

The forest around us was being pelted by rain, yet we were dry.

"Oh my goodness!" Evelyn explained. "What on Muforam is happening? How are we dry?"

I smiled at her, and replied, "The Latia have been plotting this whole thing, using sonic devices to create a safety layer for the force field all around the castle, in the shape of a star. No one gets in, no one gets out. The Latia take all the hostages they want, and they won't even be in their normal form! It's a disguise! You would need all the artillery in the world to fight them off!"

I snicker, and then say, "But that's okay, because you have all the artillery you need: Me."

Evelyn gives me a blank stare, so I say, "Basically...run."

• • •

I had told Evelyn to get everyone in a safe, secret place inside the castle, and she followed my orders without hesitation, because that's what people do. When you're scared, you'll follow whatever anyone says.

I raced down the corridors, looking for the Master. He was my father's archenemy, but I wondered how he got here...for some reason, he seems to _always _come back. And how did he get Latia powers? The Master couldn't possibly think that he would survive a DNA transfusion without their abilities.

Fear grips me when I realize I haven't found Dusk yet. I looked everywhere in the ballroom, yet I can't seem to find him. I push some negative thoughts that begin to form away, and continue to search for the Master.

I glanced to my left, and a glimpse of silver catches my eye. My head turns, and I find myself face to face with one of the knights.

"Ello there!" I wave as if he can tell what it means. "Just passing by, you know? Have you seen my friend Jason?"

"All life forms other than the Latia will be brought to head quarters," The knight states, and pulls a sword out of its hilt. "You will obey orders."

I was about to pull out my sword and slice the knight in half, but then I thought it through. "All right, then," I laughed. "Take me there. Now."

The knight pushed me forward, and I willingly walked a little bit ahead of him the whole time we walked.

As we walked, I talked pointlessly to the knight about random little things, knowing that he wouldn't understand, or care, about any of it. I just wanted someone to talk to.

Thoughts of doubt started to form inside of my head about this whole thing. Maybe...just maybe, I'll be able to wing it.

But then again, maybe not.

• • •

The knight shoved me inside of a jail cell. "Hey!" I cried. "Take it easy on me!" He held up his sword, and so I added, "Okay, okay, I'm going, I'm going...gosh!"

Turns out "head quarters" were in the tunnels, and there was another cloaking device disguising the doors, only this time it could only be activated by Arane-based aliens and the Latia.

Surprisingly, they hadn't tied up my hands. Probably because they thought I was a harmless little Muforam kid who wouldn't be able to escape. Yeah right.

"Dawn, is that you?" A familiar voice from one side of the jail cell asked.

"Marth!" I cried, and a smile lit up my face. "Where exactly are you? Sorry, I can't see in this dusty little rat hole..." Of course, it was almost the exact opposite. It was _very _dark in the jail cells, sure, but a rat hole was definitely not the way to describe the rest of the head quarters. It was all very advanced technology, and I recognized some of it was even Gallafreyan.

"Right here," Marth laughed, and I felt hands cover my eyes.

"Oh, hey!" I giggled. "How have you been doing? I'm _so _sorry I got you into this mess...I only put everything together this morning, and by that time you were gone."

"Don't worry about it," Marth sighed. "Nothing much happened. They said because I resisted I would have to be shot...with something called a tranquilizer gun, apparently."

I snorted. "And how did that go?"

"Painful," He replied. "At first. And then I fell asleep after a while."

"Okay," I nodded. "At least it wasn't _too _bad then, right? You forgive me?"

"Of course," Marth laughed.

"Do you know of anyone else who got captured?" I question him.

"Hm...No," Marth replies. "It's been very quiet."

"So you must've been the first," I whispered.

Someone screaming in pain interrupted our conversation. My eyes narrowed, and I heard the jail cell door screech open. Someone was thrown on the floor, and I hear a knight say, "You will stay in acquired cell." Then he left.

I crouched down to the floor and carefully crawled towards the entrance. "Can you tell me your name?" I ask. "Who are you? Hello?"

The person doesn't answer me, and so I try to find them. Eventually, I figure out I found one of their hands, and squeeze it tightly. "Hello?" I whisper again, and prop up the person's head with one of my hands. I decide it's most likely a boy, because his hair isn't long like a girl's.

"Can you hear me?" I ask, and check the boy's wrist for a pulse. Sure enough, I can feel his pulse steadily pumping. "Please, just give me some sign."

Suddenly, the figure starts to glow, and little orbs of light surround his body. A small smile formed on my lips, and I let out a sigh of relief.

The figure sat up abruptly, and like last time on Vipera, we smacked heads. "Oi, that sugar rush was even worse!"

I laughed, and Dusk and I hugged. "You've _really _got to stop smacking heads with me every time you sit up," I giggled.

"Sorry," Dusk replied, and we broke apart. "Hey, thanks for talking to me. When I heard you were there, I guess I felt...relieved. And angry, because they got you."

"Hey, no worries," I shrugged, even though he probably couldn't see. "I let myself get here."

"Why?" Dusk asked.

"Well, because one: I wanted to figure out what was going on, and two: because I had to make sure you and Marth were okay," I explained.

"Oh," Dusk sighed. "Hey Marth." I heard just a _hint _of coolness in his voice, so I elbowed his ribs. "What was that for?" He whispered.

"Hello, Dusk," Marth says briskly. "So, what do we do now?"

"We wait," I sigh.

"For what?" Dusk and Marth ask at the same time.

"Not sure yet," I laugh. "I'm just kind of winging it."

"You mean you don't have any plan at all?" Dusk exclaims.

"Nope," I pop the 'p.'

"And you're okay with that?"

"Yup," Once again, I pop the 'p.'

"And we're all in plethora of danger?" Dusk asks.

"What brought on the word 'plethora?'" I laugh.

"Hey, hanging out with royal people effects your vocabulary!" Dusk defends himself. "Answer the question."

"Yes, we're in a lot of danger," I replied.

"Awesome," I could imagine his face expression right now.

"Well, you're definitely back," I whisper. "Anyway, for now...we wait!"

• • •

It was about an hour later when a knight came in our cell and stiffly said, "The brunette girl of age thirteen will now be taken for questioning and possible transfusion."

In the last hour, several people had come in and been prepared for the transfusion. I was a little nervous about how I was going to save people this time.

"Well why would you want to do that?" I ask, and a small smile forms on my lips. The Master was afraid of me because of the knowledge I had.

"No questions will be asked." The knight replied, just as stiff.

"Can I have time to say goodbye to my friends?" I asked as innocently as I possibly could.

"Prisoner will be allowed one minute to say goodbye before departure."

"Thanks a ton," I whispered sarcastically, and then hugged Marth first, who was standing next to me. "Be careful, okay?"

"Of course, Dawn," Marth whispered, and squeezed my shoulders before I turned to Dusk who was about five feet away.

We hugged, and when I pulled away, I whispered, "You know, it's funny. Maybe this is your chance to be superman. Remember how we talked about that earlier?"

I barely see Dusk nod, but I continue, "It's kind of dark in here...you know, the screwdriver I gave you earlier should have a light on it. If you _flick the switch _to setting number _four, _it should give you some light. Maybe if you point it at the _generator _it will work even better." I smirk slightly and wink at him, even though he probably can't see.

"How do I know _when_ to use it?" He whispers almost inaudibly in my ear.

"You'll know," I reply. "I promise."

"I'd rather have you promise you'll come back to me looking the same," Dusk mutters.

"Can't guarantee that one, sorry," I smile slightly, and then approach the knight.

"I'm ready now," I state coolly.

"You will follow me or be killed," The knight replies.

We walk out of the jail cell, and I think, _Wonderful, the lowest class aliens are ordering me around...just great._

We walk through several rooms, and the light brightens in each one of them. My eyes blink rapidly, and try to adjust.

Eventually, we reach a dimly lit (finally!) room, where there's simply a table...and the Master of course, but I don't count him as a piece of furniture. I should, though...that's a much as he's worth after he's tried killing my father so many times.

I sit in the chair across from him, lock my fingers together as if I was holding hands with someone, and then said, "So...what's up?" I smirk slightly as I watch his calm expression falter a little.

"Tell me, child," The Master rasped. "Who are you?"

"Elizabeth Smith," I replied coolly.

"_Liar!_" The Master cries. "I can see it in your head! Your name is Dawn Melody!"

I sneer, and then watch as his face turns from confusion, to regret, to surprise, to realization. "I was wondering when you'd catch on," I laughed, propping up my feet on the table.

"You are a Time Lady?" The Master asked. I nodded. "Impossible!" He booms, and then continues, "If so, why are you traveling so young?"

"I had a good teacher," Was all I reply. I suddenly realized that I was face to face with one of the last of my people, and I was filled with a sense of...security, somehow. "What does Gallifrey look like?" I whisper, a puzzled look on my face. My mother had never explained it to me.

"You've never been?" The Master asks.

"When I was very small," I replied. "But I don't remember it very much."

"Well...From the planet's surface, it boasted an orange sky and trees with silver leaves. They reflected the morning sunlight, making it look like the forests were on fire. There were also green forests, golden fields, and red deserts. It was the most beautiful planet I've ever seen. Any Time Lord or Lady, even you, has the right to know what it looks like if they've never seen it," The Master explained, and I was touched by the ending sentence.

"Thank you," I whisper, and try to picture Gallifrey. His description triggers some of my old memories, and I sigh. "It's so beautiful."

"Too bad it's gone," The Master murmurs. I carefully hide all of my thoughts about Dad before he reads them in my head, because I know it's Dad's fault. Of course, it was the right decision, but why did everything have to go to such waste?

"I will use your body!" The Master exclaims suddenly.

"Sorry, what?" I ask, completely surprised.

"I will use your body for the transfusion!" The Master explains. "Instead of the girls. You are a Time Lady, so I will still have a brilliant brain...well, better than a human's or Latia's, at least."

I purse my lips, realizing he just technically insulted me.

"I don't see how I can escape," I lie. "But you can use me on one condition."

"As if you have a choice," The Master scoffs.

"As long as I know the Doctor, I've always got a choice," I snap, watching in amusement as his face turns to fear, and then back to a sneer.

"Know of the doctor then, do you?" He asks.

I smirk, and reply, "Yup. And I know how to contact him immediately. We have a special connection like that, you know." _Lie, _a little voice inside my head says. But the Master doesn't detect it.

"How do you know him?" The Master asks.

"That's for me to know, and for you to never figure out," I laugh humorlessly.

"How do I know you're not bluffing?" The Master questions.

"What if I'm not?"

"Then...the Doctor comes?"

"Best not to test me then, huh?"

"So," The Master finally sighs. "What's your condition?"

"I know you're just in this for yourself," I mutter. "You'd never give a whole kingdom away to the Latia. So you're going to let them all go, live in peace. And you won't lay a _finger _on my friend, Dusk. He knows exactly how to get the Doctor, just in case." _Lie. _

"And what's in it for me?" The Master asks.

"You get me," I reply.

"But you're going to try and escape. I can see it in your head!" The Master yells.

_Crap...I just hope he doesn't-_"Ah," The Master suddenly.

_DAWN! _I yell inwardly at myself. _Why the heck did you just think about that!_

"If you try to escape," The Master chuckles. "The boy dies."

"Fine," I whisper, and a tear slips down my cheek at the thought. Maybe I wouldn't be able to escape this one.

"Come along, then," The Master laughs. "Your friends will also watch you suffer..."

• • •

**OH MY GOSH! What's gonna happen? Good question! Review, and I'll get started on the next chapter! **

**By the way, was the whole Emily/Lily thing confusing? If so, ask me a question about it! Preferably PM! I'll try to correct all errors, and sorry the editing is kind of sloppy...**

**REVIEW! OR THE MASTER WILL COME GET YOU! (Course, then the Doctor would most likely come, and that would be **_**awesome! **_**But still...review. ;))**


	11. Chapter 10: Sacrifice

**Okay, I hope you haven't waited **_**too **_**long. But I kind of left you on a cliffhanger...MU HA HA, what will happen? **

**I thought I would give the Master a little bit more of a "gentle" personality this chapter. I always imagined him feeling just a **_**little **_**guilty for all of the people he killed, and now killing Dawn, who is only thirteen (Even if she is an epic genius! LOL!)...I think he would be just a tiny bit sorry, don't you think?**

**Anyway, ENJOY!**

**Chapter 10: Sacrifice**

**Dusk's POV-**

It's been about five minutes since Dawn left, and I was leaning against a wall with my arms crossed over my chest. I was worried about her. What's going on right now? Is it possible that she's dead this very moment?

But I quickly push these thoughts away. Marth is standing across from me, and I whisper, "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Yes," Marth replies. "You and me both know she has a funny way of getting out of sticky situations."

I chuckled quietly when I thought of when Dawn and I were in France, she had crashed us in to a party from the 32nd century, using the physic card, of course. Eventually, the security guards figured out we weren't really famous child authors, or whatever she had us be, and he tried chasing us down. Dawn, however, was clever, and hacked into the computer systems and locked the security guard outside. She sure is crazy intelligent...

I start to think of all the other weird stuff that happens when I'm around her, and I also wonder what her past was like. Maybe she'll tell me someday...all I know is that she's an alien and that she's been on the TARDIS for eight years straight. She says she has two hearts, and can read twice as fast as I can, and some other wacky stuff like a photographic memory.

Eventually, some of the knights come and start pushing us prisoners over to the "transfusion room." I follow their orders, knowing they'll kill me in one second flat.

I try not to panic a little when I realize Dawn still isn't back yet.

When we reach the room, I blink several times, trying to adjust to the sudden change in light. I look around the room, and see several high-tech things...a large computer, lots of keyboards with complicated looking systems, and I even spot the generator Dawn was talking about.

But in the center of it all is Dawn. Just standing there. With a haunted expression on her face. She's looking straight through me. I try getting to her, but a knight holds me back. I eventually stop struggling, knowing that she must _really _be in the zone, because she isn't watching, listening...nothing. It's like she's one of the knights.

I notice that Emily's family is here, too. Yet they're separated from the rest of us. Emily and I make eye contact, and she throws me a terrified glance.

Then, an old man comes into the room. "Silence!" His raspy yet forceful voice booms. The buzzing noise of people chatting stops.

"Do not fear," He rasps. "You will soon be let go. Before going, however, you will watch your friend suffer. She is a brave person, making a deal with me like this. I should thank her, shouldn't I?" The old man smiles sadly, and then walks over to Dawn. He touches her arm, and it's like she's been snapped out of a trance.

Dawn puts a hand on her head, and the old man puts a hand on her shoulder. I see him mouth the words, "Thank you." Dawn says something back, but I don't try to figure out what it says. Instead, I just look at her and try to make sense of what the old man was saying.

What did he mean, we'll watch her suffer? What's going to happen? And what deal did Dawn and this weirdo dude make?

Dawn's face was almost _white, _and she looked very weak. I could see her hands shaking from where I was standing. The old man glanced at me, and then back at Dawn. She nodded. Then, the man gestured me over. I tilted my head to the side, and then Dawn and I made eye contact. My heart melted, and I practically ran over to her.

She collapsed into me as I hugged her. "Nanogenes," She whimpered. "Please."

I held her face in my hands, and concentrated all of my fear, confusion, friendship, and admiration for Dawn into my hands. Nanogenes flowed out and surrounded her face, and then just like _that, _they came back. I was actually getting pretty good at that.

When the nanogenes made contact with her skin, I got a glimpse of the pain, regret, and fear she was feeling. This always happens when I heal someone...I also could've sworn she said, "He's getting really good," but I realized I was just imagining things. Still, I couldn't ignore the fact that I had become so familiar with her voice it was speaking in my brain now.

"Thanks," Dawn whispered, and hugged me. Or maybe she just wanted something to lean on, but I put my squeezed her tightly anyway.

"What's going on?" I ask quietly.

"I...uh...the Master is going to use my body for himself...it's...complicated," Dawn explained, her voice dry.

"You know him?" I question wearily.

"Sort of," She replies. "He was a friend to my father. A very, very long time ago."

"Do I get to see you again?" Dawn lifts her head to look me directly in the eye, and I see some of the color in her eyes and face come back.

"I'm sorry," She murmurs. "There was nothing else I could do. Just don't...try anything stupid to save me. He'll kill you, Dusk. As soon as he lets you out, get back to the TARDIS. Don't worry about me...I won't be able to...talk to you, anymore."

"No, Dawn, you can't-"Thank you, Dusk," Dawn interrupts. "For everything. At least I wasn't lonely for the last two weeks of my life." She smiles slightly.

"I should be thanking you," I smile, squeezing her hand. "You're too brave. Why are you doing this?"

"To save all of them," She whispers, gesturing to everyone around us. "By the way...when you go to the TARDIS...ask Emily if she wants to come, too. It will protect you both for a very long time..."

"Wait, Dawn, where do I-"I have to go," She interrupts again. "Bye...Jason."

Dawn turns around to face the Master without another word, and I back away slowly. I can't believe she was going through with this. And does she _really _expect me to just stand back and watch?

The Master approaches Dawn, and she closes her eyes. He lays a hand on her forehead, and at first she looks just fine. And then, her face turns into an expression of agony, fear, and sorrow. It just gets worse from there.

I wonder where the Master is getting his energy from, when I see a little black bracelet on both Dawn and his wrists. They have little sparks coming out from both of them.

Dawn whimpers loudly, and her hair starts to rise a little, as if pulled by static electricity. I stand there in a state of complete shock, not able to move.

Now, the sparks have engulfed Dawn completely, and I grow angry, sad, and terrified because of what is happening to her.

Then, something very strange happens. A voice whispers in my head, _Stop him. _But it wasn't mine. Because I didn't know what to do. _You heard me, _the voice says again. _Stop the Master. _

I felt a warm glow on my hand, and looked down at it. A single little nanogene was flying around my finger, and the voice whispered again, _Yes, that is me. My name is Nitero. And as long as you use the powers of that scar, you will never be alone. Because I will be here. Now, stop him! You know you can! Dawn has given both of us a purpose in this world, and the Master will not take her away from us. _

Woah, nanogenes are _telepathic? _

_No, _Nitero laughs. _The telepathic connection is only activated when you use your powers. Sometimes, you can even read people's minds that are around you when using your healing powers. That's what happened with Dawn a few minutes ago. Now, before it's too late! We can talk later! _

I narrowed my eyes, and looked around the room, ignoring the fact that Dawn was in obvious pain, because by now she was screaming.

I eventually spotted the generator, which was glowing. I flash back to what Dawn said earlier:

"_It's kind of dark in here...you know, the _screwdriver_ I gave you earlier should have a light on it. If you flick the switch to _setting number four_, it should give you some light. Maybe if you point it at the _generator_ it will work even better."_

_Wait, _I think. _If she told me about the generator, then did she know this would happen? So why did she tell me _not _to save her? What am I supposed to do? And what does she mean I'll die if I try to save her? _

"Oh," I whisper. "Who cares if I die? At least she has a chance of living."

My fingers rummage in my pocket, and finally, I grip the silver sonic screwdriver. Twisting the end to setting four, I point it at the generator and flick the switch.

An ear-piercing yell comes from the Master, and Dawn slowly stops "sparking." She puts a hand on her forehead, and sways a little. I sprint over, and catch her just as she falls.

"Hey," I whisper, smiling.

"Why?" She asks almost inaudibly. "You'll...die."

"I don't care," I reply. "Thanks...for everything."

I set her gently down on the floor, despite her weak protests, where she quickly becomes unconscious soon after.

Then, I stand back up, and face the Master, who is struggling to get up. "You," He rasps, pointing a bony finger at me. "That was a mistake. We made a deal, and so you will die."

The Master says a word I don't recognize, and one of the Arane-based aliens pulls out a futuristic-looking gun.

"Fine," I laugh. "Do it. I've had the best two weeks of my life, and I wouldn't have done anything different, even if it all ends like this."

"So be it," The Master rasps.

Then, several things happen at once. It's not like movies, where everything goes slow motion, but the adrenaline pulsing through my veins makes it much easier to take in a bunch of things at once:

Dawn starts struggling to get up, and cries, "No!" Some_thing _or some_one _(I can't tell, it was so fast) takes the hit for me, and falls to the ground. Dawn quickly crawls over, and my heart jumps when I see Emily on the floor.

The Master is about to say, "Fire!" Again, but Dawn shouts, "Don't you _dare! _I may have been lying about Dusk's ability to contact the Doctor, but I've still got this, which _can _contact him!" She points to her head. I wondered if she really could...and who's the Doctor?

I'm amazed that Dawn is able to yell that loudly after being so weak. Of course, I'm sure having two hearts helps.

The Master tells everyone to stay back, and scowls. "Fine," He eventually snaps.

I glance at Dawn, who is looking at Emily in horror, and then my gaze shifts down to the floor. Accept I don't see Emily. I see a _very _familiar looking dog. And then that shape flickers over to a _very _familiar cat. And finally, to a very, very, _very _familiar looking girl. "Lily," I whisper.

Then, I look up at Dawn. "What's going on?" I ask her, and my head is spinning. Dawn gestures with her hand to look down at Lily, who may also be Emily, again.

So I look. And I see Emily. And I'm starting to get a little freaked out.

Emily opens her eyes, and smiles weakly. "Jason," She whispers. "I'm so glad I got to see you one last time before I die."

"Who are you?" I ask, my voice cracking.

"Latia...they're shape shifters, remember?"

And then it all makes sense. "All that time...you're...Lily? And the dog? And cat?"

"And this is your mom's," She whispers, shakily pulling of the blue bandana.

"B-But you're not going to die," I laugh weakly, still in a small state of shock. I can't believe I didn't see that coming...

"I can heal you," I explain. Putting up a hand, I easily make a handful of nanogenes flow out, because I was feeling so many emotions right now. "See?"

Lily shakes her head, so I look at Dawn. "I can, can't I?"

"I'm sorry," She whispers. "But...Latia have a funny way of cheating death. As soon as a sub-body is injured, they can just switch to a different one. But if the main body is injured, which is, in this case, Emily's body," She shakes her head.

"Even nanogenes can't help that. They wouldn't be able to figure out which DNA is correct, and by that time she would already be dead. Most nanogenes can actually bring people back from the dead, but the booster of nanogenes I gave you was mutated so that they can't actually bring people back."

"It's alright, Jason," Lily smiles. "I'm glad I was able to help."

"No!" I cry. "Please, don't leave me! Not now, just when I figure it out! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I thought you would hate me for leaving you," Lily replied.

"I do," I whisper, smiling slightly. "But I still miss you. And if you would have told me earlier, things might have been different."

Lily just smiles, and then closes her eyes. "Goodbye, Jason," She whispers with her last breath.

A single tear slips down my cheek, and I hastily wipe it away. "She didn't have to," I whispered to Dawn, smiling slightly.

"I would've missed you," She replied. "She would have, too."

"But still," I sniffed. Dawn pulled me into a hug, but I didn't let another tear escape. Mostly, I was shocked. And I actually wasn't _too _sad, because...well, who knows why. And I was also angry with the Master.

"Speaking of him," Dawn whispers. I wondered how she knew what I was thinking. Of course...Dawn is amazing like that. "Don't forget we have an audience." She smirks, and then we turn around to face everyone.

"You're going to leave," She glares at the Master. "Right now. Because I'm not like the Doctor. I give people second chances."

The Master glares at her slightly, and then spits out, "Fine."

He starts walking towards something high-tech I hadn't noticed before. It looked sort of like a generator, but I wasn't sure if it was or not.

I hand Dawn her sonic screwdriver, and she whispers, "Thanks."

We start walking toward the exit of the building, several people following us. "

In a sense, however..." She suddenly continues. "I am like my father. Because I don't give _third_ chances."

I hear the Master start to command an Arane-based alien to fire, and Dawn whips around, points her sonic screwdriver at a computer, and presses the button. The computer, and several other things around it, burst into flame.

"Come on, everyone!" She shouts. "Get out!" All of the people start to flee the building, and the Master yells, "_NO!_"

"C'mon, Dusk," Dawn whispers, and at first I think she means that we're leaving, but then she walks toward Emily's body. Together, we lift her up, and start running as fast as we can toward the exit.

• • •

"I have seen how important these people are, now," Arashga says. "My daughter would not have given her life to just any person."

"I could take you home," Dawn offers.

"No," Arashga smiles. "My family and I will stay here. We have grown used to this life...and will now live peacefully with the Muforams here."

"That's a good choice," Dawn smiles. I nod.

"Thank you," Arashga bows. "For making me realize how wrong I was."

"It's what we do," Dawn and I laugh at the same time. We exchange a sadish-happy glance, and at that moment, I bet I could've read her mind without Nitero being there: _It's what we do...but at a cost. _

We were standing outside of the TARDIS, and Marth was there with us, too. "Well, I fear I must depart," Arashga sighs. "It was nice meeting you."

"And you, also," Dawn replies. I nod, and smile a little.

Arashga leaves, and Marth asks, "Are you sure we can trust him?"

"I believe so," Dawn purses her lips in a look of concentration. "But just in case..."

She pulls out a pocket watch, and hands it to Marth. "Press the button on the side," She explains. "And I promise we'll be here as soon as we can."

Marth nods, giving her a funny look, but agreeing. "So...you travel in _that_?" He points to the TARDIS, and I laugh, while Dawn looks hurt.

"Yes, yes we do," She sighs. Then, she brightens, and adds, "Do you want to come?" I shoot her a look, but she ignores it. I wonder if Marth will say yes or no...

"Isn't it a little cramped?" Marth asks.

Dawn laughs, and replies, "It's bigger on the inside."

I flash her a smile, and Marth looks from me to her, and back. "I think I'll stay, thanks," He eventually shrugs, giving me a long look. "I've got my duties here, you've got yours there. But thank you for the offer."

"Okay then," Dawn smiles. "It's been awesome being here, Marth. You'll be a great King, trust me." Only I know the double meaning behind those words...because she probably already knows he _will _be a great King.

"Thank you," Marth bows. Dawn and I say our final goodbyes, and Dawn walks inside the TARDIS. I can hear her exclaim, "HEY SWEETIE!"

Just before I follow, Marth whispers, "Take care of her, okay?"

I smile at Marth, and reply, "Of course."

She skips ahead of me, and starts to mess around with a few controls. "So, where next?" She asks.

"As if you don't already know," I snort.

"Actually, I don't," She laughs. "I've still got to look at the next diary page. And I was thinking we should rest a day here, and I wanted to practice using the physic card, and-"

"Oh," I interrupt. "So...you've got some time for a few questions of mine?"

"Yeah, what's up?" I see curiosity flash across her face, but she continues to mess with some TARDIS controls. I run up the console stairs, and look at her through the center light thingy at her...I'm not sure what it's called.

"I was wondering...today, when you were...well, you know," I was struggling a little with words.

"Mhmm?" I think she's pretending to be uninterested, but I feel a little bad when I see her shudder a bit.

"See...I was in shock, watching," I continue. "And all of the sudden, there was this voice in my head that told me to stop the Master. I looked down, and saw a nanogene by my finger. It said her name was Nitero."

Dawn's head snaps up, and I know she's interested now. "But that's...impossible. She said the telepathic connection would be broken as soon as she was inside your body!"

By now, Dawn was up in my face, using her sonic screwdriver on my face. "Hey!" I laughed, swatting it away. "I'm not a robot!"

"Oh, right," Dawn giggles, putting the sonic screwdriver back in her pockets.

"How _do _you fit that in your pocket, anyway?" I ask suddenly.

"They're bigger on the inside," She shrugs, and I snort.

"Like the TARDIS," I laugh.

She nods, and then cries, "_Wait! _I forgot, there's a fairly simple way to do this...if I've mastered it. I mean, I've never practiced on a human being before."

Dawn started pulling me toward her room, and I asked, "But what are you going to do?"

"Simple!" She cries. "I need to ask Nitero how that happened, so I'll just hypnotize you and-"Woah, woah, _woah,_" I interrupt. "You can _hypnotize _people? Is there anything you _can't _do?"

"Yes, I can hypnotize people," Dawn giggles. "No, I can't do everything. I can do a lot, sure...I _do _have a Time Lady brain. Well, a little part of it is human, but that's it. But there _are _limits to my awesomeness."

She pushes me down into a sitting position on her bed, and puts her hands on my cheeks. I ignore the urge to shudder at her touch. "Your hands are still _freezing,_" I frown. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm...okay. Not great, but okay," Dawn replies, and I suddenly feel really tired. "All you have to do is relax, m'kay?"

And then, two seconds later, I'm out.

**Dawn's POV-**

"Oh, good!" I whisper, carefully lying Dusk down on the bed. He went out pretty fast.

Just as I wonder how I'll get Nitero to talk to me, the little Nanogene starts floating around my face.  
"Hi," I murmur, smiling a little. "That's you, isn't it, Nitero?"

_Yes, _Nitero replies. _It's good to see you. _

"You too," I reply. "So, how is your telepathic connection surviving in Dusk's body?"

_I do not know, _Nitero sighs. _But it is not the ability that comes with his scar. His fate for that is different. Besides, the connection only works in this case, where he is placed under hypnotism, or using his ability._

"What do you know about the scar?" I ask. "Why is it shaped like that?"

_I have seen and know many things, Dawn, _Nitero begins. _And so I know things you should know, and things you should not know. But I have a prophecy for you. _

"Go on," I whisper.

_With healing comes destruction, and with war comes peace. One day, during war, The Red Snake will be swallowed by a crack, and peace will come. But before peace comes war, with war comes destruction, and before destruction is healing from previous wars. Life like this is a cycle, you should know that. _

"Yes," I reply to the last sentence. "Who...or what, is the Red Snake, exactly? Is it me?"

_A part, _Nitero replies. _I try to listen to where the Red Snake goes when swallowed, but all I hear are angels crying. _

"So a part of me dies, then?" I chew on my lip, and wonder what Nitero is getting at.

_Not necessarily._

"So when does this whole thing happen, then?" I ask, and continue to chew on my lip.

_A long time from now, _Nitero laughs. _Do not fear. All turns out well. _

"Whatever you say," I smile, feeling a little more helpful, even though this new knowledge I have is a little depressing. "Thank you for speaking to me."

_My pleasure, _Nitero replies. _Don't forget, you will never be alone as long as I am here. _

Nitero floats back into Dusk, and he stirs a little. "Dusk," I whisper. "Wake up!"

He shoots out off of the bed, and puts a hand on his forehead. "Hey, we didn't smack heads this time!" I laugh.

"Yeah," Dusk smile brightly.

I wondered if he remembered anything Nitero had spoken with me about. I doubted it, though.

"So, did you learn everything you needed to know?" He confirms my suspicions that he doesn't remember.

"Y-Yeah," I stutter. "More than enough." I suddenly feel very happy, despite the fact that my brain is spinning, wondering what Nitero meant by all of that.

"Come on, let's get a good dinner somewhere in Italy...I don't think I've taken you there yet. Then, we'll sleep here for the night, and I'll study up on where we're going tomorrow!"

Dusk nods, and I can see that he's incredibly excited. "Off we go, then!" I laugh, and we race each other to the console controls.

And suddenly it dawns on me: A tiny, little grain of truth, that makes a galaxy of difference.

For once in my life...I was happy.

**So...how was it? This wasn't one of my favorite chapters, but...oh well! **

**Next chapter...oh boy. Two of my new favorite characters come. :) Excitement! **

**What could Nitero have been talking about? Who's The Red Snake? How is it a part of Dawn? More will be revealed in future chapters... ;)**

**Here's a sneak peek! **

"Here, what some punch?" Alice asked.

I nod, because I was parched. She hands me a glass, and I chug it down. "Yum," I gasp. "What is this stuff?"

"It's called Red Snake punch," She replies as I take another sip. I do a spit take.

"Sorry, what was that?" I ask.

"It's called Hawaiian Lime," Alice laughs. "What, are you deaf?"

"N-No," I stutter. "You...said..." And then, a cell phone ring tone interrupts our conversation.

**W-O-A-H, right? It's like Bad Wolf all over! Just kidding, it won't be entirely like Bad Wolf, it's actually quite different...MU HA HA! There's an AWE-PIC part next chapter involving a cell phone next chapter, I hope you'll love it as much as I do. :)**


	12. Chapter 11 Christmas Special wink wink

**YAY! New chapter! Okay, so, this one's kind of fun to write, just cause...it's not very "adventurous," but I think it's quite funny and it's a big part in the plot. :) Two of my new favorite characters are in here! YAY! Do you guys like how Dawn and Dusk both "like" each other, but both of them are too scared to show it that much? There are some pretty cute parts in this chapter about that... ;)**

**ENJOY! (Don't forget, the beginning is an intro!)**

**Chapter 11: Untitled until further notice**__

**Angela's POV-**

I shivered. I was walking back home after a study session at Alice's house...well, maybe more of a "talk about cute guys session" instead of a study session. We talked a lot about Will and Sean.

Sean. His name makes me shudder, but for reasons other than the cold. I missed him, too. He was in the hospital right now...maybe I'll check up on him later.

A snowflake landed on the end my nose, and I giggled. It was getting closer and closer to Christmas, and the Eight Grade Party was tomorrow. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

One problem, though: Christmas is supposed to be a cheery time, right? Wrong. All of Alice's and my friends lately have become sick from some unknown illness and are in the hospital.

A gleam of red catches my eye, and I look to the side and gasp. "Carly!" I cry, and sprint through the snow to see my friend. "Where were you today? I didn't see you at school! Alice and I were freaked out, we thought you had gotten that sickness!"

Carly stared blankly at me. I looked into her eyes, and giggled. "Hey, did you get new contacts? Those look really cool! Your eyes are all...golden!"

Something about Carly was off. First of all, she wasn't replying to my questions. Also, her eyes...I couldn't look away from them.

And then, _my_ eyes burned, and I screamed. I began to fall into a pool of black, nothingness, and landed right into someone's arms...

**Dawn's POV-**

"Okay, how's this?" I laughed, putting on some black sunglasses and a light blue baseball cap.

"So-so," Dusk replied, a funny look on his face. He took off my hat, bent down, and picked up a red fedora off of the floor. "Here, try this!"

I put the fedora on, and looked in the mirror. "Ugh, I look so bad in red."

We were in the TARDIS's costume room, trying to find some cool disguises. Earlier on, we had been practicing using the physic card. Dusk told me that if we had secret identities, we needed disguises and new names. My name, of course, was Elizabeth Smith, while Dusk's was Luke James. "Very creative," I had laughed when he announced it. "I like how the last name could be the first name, too."

"How's this?" Dusk asked, and I turned to face him. He was wearing a leather jacket, a navy blue baseball cap backwards, and ripped jeans. "Very gangster-ish," I laughed, and he smiled brightly.

"What about...this?" I ask a few minutes later, coming out of a dressing room, and this time, Dusk turns to face me. I was wearing a red "too too" with black skinny jeans underneath, and a creamish-white t-shirt with red words that said, "Peace." In the background was a picture of a peace sign in gray. I was wearing a black headband to top it all off.

Dusk let out a long, low whistle. "Wow," He said.

"Good?" I asked, twirling around.

"Yeah," He replied, eyes wide. "Girly...but good."

"Hey, I may be a tom boy, but that doesn't mean I can't play dress up sometimes!" I giggle.

He continues to try on clothes until we finally find one that suits him pretty well. He was wearing ripped jeans, a white t-shirt with a red, black, and white plaid button-up shirt on top that was open, and he also ruffled up his hair a little.

"Hm," I murmur. "Turn." He started to rotate slowly, and I looked him over, up and down. "Looks good!" I smile. "A little bad boy, but good."

"Hey, who said I was a goody two shoes?" Dusk snapped teasingly.

"I didn't," I giggle. "You're very, _very _bad Dusk. I'm sorry I offended you."

We both start laughing, and head back to the console room.

"So, where _are _we going?" Dusk asks.

"It's a surprise!" I whine. "Stop asking! But you'll need a coat."

He grabbed a red sweatshirt off of the hat rack I had by the door, and I snatched a light, red jacket.

Finally, the TARDIS makes the _fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh, _noise, and I stand by the door of the TARDIS, rocking back and fourth on my heels. "Ready?" I ask.

"Yup," Dusk replies.

I open the TARDIS door, and we walk out onto the chilly planet earth. Specifically, the town where I first met Dusk.

"Wait a second," Dusk murmured. "This is...this is-"Earth. The city you live by, in particular," I finish for him.

"Yeah," Dusk whispers. "Does that mean you're taking me home?"

"Naw, course not!" I laugh, and start to walk forward. The pavement had been plowed, and surprisingly, it wasn't too cold outside, even though it was snowing. Just chilly.

"Then what are we doing here?" Dusk asks, running up next to me.

"This is the only place that fit the alien that was next in my diary...see, the aliens have been scattered for a long time, and I figured if they aren't on there own planet, they must be on earth," I explain.

"Oh," Dusk nods. "What's the date? Why is snowing?"

"Christmas Eve, two-thousand ten," I reply, smiling.

"Why Christmas?" Dusk asks.

"Because that's when _all _the bad stuff on Earth happens," I snort at the end of that sentence, remembering how many aliens my father had run into on Christmas. It reminds me of the Christmas specials they have for t.v. shows...

"What exactly are we looking for?" Dusk questions.

I stop walking, and look at our surroundings. Finally, my eyes reach what I was looking for: The local middle school.

"That," I reply, ripping a flyer off of a telephone pole. "There's an eight grade party tonight. Big, social gathering...hundreds of people, yeah?"

Dusk nods, and realization lights up his face. "Oh, so you're saying that..."

"The alien needs lots of people to live for some reason," We both say at the same time, and then burst out laughing. "We seriously need to stop doing that!" We say again. I wait five seconds before I say, "You'd think after knowing you for only a week I wouldn't be able to do that. Yet I still can."

"Hey, so can I!" Dusk defends, nudging me a little. I push him to the side, and he chuckles.

"Anyway," I explain as a snowflake lands on my nose. "The alien we're dealing with has no proper name, but a lot of people call them 'Soul Stealers.' They need a body to survive in...I'm just guessing that the Soul Stealer will go to the closest place it can find with lots of people, until it finds who it's looking for."

"And who would that be?" Dusk asks.

"Me," I reply simply shrugging.

"Why?" He doesn't sound surprised. I don't blame him. It's always us Time Lord and Ladies, isn't it?

"So that it has a body it can stay in for several lives. And the only place you're going to find that is either Gallifrey, or...Gallifrey, basically," I explain. Of course, Gallifrey was all locked up in time, so your chances of finding a Time Lord or Lady is very slim. Then again, there's always Dad and I, who come looking for them...But I wasn't about to explain all this to Dusk. He doesn't even know half of my history yet. "I'm just wondering how the Soul Stealer got here."

"Excuse me!" A high, girly voice cries. "But have you seen this girl?" A blond girl, probably fourteen, approaches Dusk and I. She's wearing a tan coat, a red hat, scarf, and gloves, and I can tell Dusk thinks she's cute. With the way his mouth hangs open ever so slightly and his eyes get a little wider, you can just tell.

The girl holds up a photo, and it's a picture of another girl with long, brown hair, and is very pretty. She looks like the type of person who won't say no to anyone. In the picture, she's on a swing with the blond girl that's standing in front of me.

"Sorry, no," I reply. "What's wrong?"

"She went missing," The girl explains. "Her name is Angela Williams...she was walking home from my house after a study session, and her mom called me later saying she never got home. No one can find her."

"It's possible she may have passed out for some reason," I reasoned, trying to comfort the obviously worried girl. "And she just got covered up by some snow. You should try looking on the way home from her house, to yours. See what you find."

"Okay," The girl whispers. "Hey, who are you, anyway? I've never seen you around before!"

"I'm Luke!" Dusk sticks out a hand before I can answer. "And this is my best friend, Elizabeth." I smile and wave at the girl. "She's visiting her grandparents for Christmas, and I'm here to see my cousins. We decided to travel here together."

"Hey, that's cool...say, you wouldn't happen to be eight graders, would you?" The girl asks.

"Yeah, we are," Dusk replies, throwing me a don't-say-a-word-of-course-I-know-we've-never-gone-to-school-and-you're-only-thirteen look.

"You should come to the eight grade party!" The girl squeals. "I'm Alice Johnson, by the way! It's tomorrow, at the Middle School. Really, you should come! Everyone's been a little down lately, what with all the sick people, you know? Some new people might lighten up the mood a little."

"Sorry, what?" Dusk asks, and I smile at him. He was catching on to my ways of scheming so quickly... "What do you mean, sick people?"

"Well," Alice keeps her voice low and glances from side to side. "A lot of the older kids are getting sick, and several of them are in the hospital, in a coma. They're always whispering-"Give me back my soul," I finish for her.

"Yeah!" Alice cries. "How did you know?"

"Uh..." I trail off. "My dad's a doctor." I almost laughed out loud at the irony. I didn't even _think _about saying that, it just kind of came out. "At the hospital here." _Yeah, that works, _I think.

"Oh," Alice murmurs. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys later! Stop by the party tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure," I smile.

"We'll be there," Dusk promises.

"Oh, and, by the way...Luke, right?" Alice asks.

"Yeah," Dusk replies.

"I'm interested in another guy...sorry."

Alice waves her fingers and says, "Toodles!"

Dusk looks dumbfounded, and I'm laughing like crazy. Tears start forming in my eyes it was so funny.

"Serves you right," I laugh.

Dusk rolls his eyes, and replies, "I wasn't interested in her, anyway."

"Sure..._sure._" I giggle. Dusk shoves me into a snow bank. "Hey!" I cry, brushing snow off of my jeans. "Not cool!"

Dusk laughs, and I grab snow off of the ground and throw it at his face. "Hey!" Dusk mocks. "Not cool!"

"Oh, you're going to get it!" I laugh, and I start chasing him around the city. This was going to be a fun Christmas...I could tell.

• • •

I flounced around in the TARDIS console room, flicking some switches that locked down some controls so that the TARDIS wouldn't randomly float into the eighteenth century...

It was about half an hour or so before the party started, and poor old Dusk was still trying to find an outfit that was "suitable" (In his opinion, this means casual, but I told him he had to dress up...it was a party, after all).

I was wearing a black dress that went down just below my knees, and some ballet flats. This way, I could run it I had to, and quickly slip off my shoes to run bare foot.

The first layer of the dress was black, and went down to a little above my knees. It had two thin spaghetti straps, and a blood red ribbon "belt" around the waist. The second layer was made of too too material (maybe I'll wear this stuff more often, I seem to like it...), but you could only see a little bit of the bottom of it.

I was also still wearing that black headband which I had taken a liking to. Of course, it would never replace my blue beret.

Just as I flicked another switch, I heard some clattering noises from by the hallway. My head snapped up, and my eyes locked with a flustered looking Dusk.

I snorted. "What did you do this time, Dusk?" I asked.

"N-Nothing!" Dusk defended himself. "You just...surprised me."

"How?"

Dusk simply nodded at my outfit.

"Oh," I blushed a little, and looked down at the console, pretending to fumble with some controls. "Heh, sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Dusk laughs. "You look...good, to put it lightly."

"As good as Alice did?" I teased lightly, smirking.

"Hey, I thought we settled that during the snowball fight!" Dusk rolled his eyes, and continued, "You are _so _immature for a thirteen-year old genius."

"And you are _so _bad at hiding your feelings about girls!" I giggle.

"Really?" Dusk asks sarcastically. "Cause last time I checked, you have no idea how I feel about you." He was standing next to me now, leaning against the console, arms crossed.

"Touché," I murmur, spinning a top. I finally cast a look at his outfit, and snort. He was wearing a black tuxedo with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the buttons undone, and black pants with converse shoes.

"Nice," I laugh.

"It works!" Dusk whines. "At least I'm not the one getting all-never...mind."

I snort again, and skip toward the door. When I open it, a light breeze swirls into the TARDIS. I shut the door immediately, and shiver. "Gosh, it's _freezing _out there! I'm just going to go park the TARDIS by the school so we don't have to walk as far...course, that means undoing all the switches, but oh well."

I dash back up to the console, and Dusk asks, "So, what exactly are we looking for tonight?"

"Well, I need to get to the head of the 'student body,' so that I can ask him or her who's missing...that will make the job easier. If we can find the most recent person that caught what they think is a sickness, then we find the alien," I explained.

"What exactly does the alien _do?_" Dusk questions.

"Uh, if you look into its eyes for too long, it takes possession of your body, leaving the other body behind, but keeping the soul within its own brain. You are kept inside of this giant, almost pitch black area with all of the other souls that have been taken. So it's like stealing everything that's yours...emotions, thoughts, soul...and that's why they're so powerful, because they know so much about other people. They go around, sucking up new souls, getting new knowledge," I continue to explain.

"Weird," Dusk murmurs, and I nod.

"Very."

The TARDIS makes her annual _fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh _noise. "Thanks Sweetie," I whisper, patting the console.

_You're welcome._

"Okay, come on, let's go," I smile, and Dusk and I walk out into the cool night air.

I shudder. "Ugh, it's _freezing!_"

"Yeah, it is," Dusk replies, rubbing his hands against his arms.

We eventually make it to the front door behind lots of other kids, and I see they all have student ID's that they're showing to a security guard. I pull out the physic card, and make sure I've got it all down. Dusk notices what I'm doing, and we exchange a knowing glance.

"Good evening," The security guard says when we reach him. "Can I see your student ID?"

"Sure," I smile, flashing him the physic card. I pass it behind my back to Dusk.

"And you?" The security guard asks Dusk, looking bored. Dusk flashes him the physic card, too. "You may go in. Have a nice night."

I smile up at Dusk, who passes me the physic card back. "Hey, we're getting pretty good!" I murmur.

"Yeah, after all that practice, you would hope so," Dusk snorts. I roll my eyes.

We follow the flow of "traffic," and reach the gym. There are about two hundred kids in there, and the gym is gigantic.

"So," I begin explaining the plan. "I'm going to start looking for the person who's in the know...how about you take a look around, yeah?"

"Okay," Dusk replies. "Can I _please _have a piece of cake first, though?"

I roll my eyes and giggle. "You boys and your food. Yeah, go ahead. Just keep an eye out for anyone with golden eyes." Dusk nods, and I watch him head off to the food table, shaking my head.

My eyes reach a cheerleading tryouts poster, and I realize this may be a lot easier than I thought...

**Dusk's POV-**

I munched on my piece of cake, watching everyone in the gym from a corner. There's a blond guy with blue eyes (I made a careful note to make sure they weren't gold) standing next to me, and I notice he's wearing his clothing the same way I am. We make eye contact, and I smile at him.

"Hey, you don't look familiar," The guy says. "Are you new in town?"

"Kind of," I reply. "I'm visiting some family with my friend. I'm Luke."

"Hey, that's cool," The guy replies, smiling. "I'm Will, by the way. Who's your friend?"

"Her name's Elizabeth," I reply. "She's standing over there." I point Dawn out to the guy.

He lets out a wolf whistle, and I feel jealousy nip at my heart a little. "She's cute," Will laughs. "But Alice has already blown me away. Have you met her yet?"

So _this _must be the guy Alice was interested in. "Yeah, I met her," I reply, smiling slightly at the thought.

"That's what I thought," Will shakes his head. "There isn't anyone in this town who doesn't know Alice. She makes herself very...known. Of course, being head of the cheerleading squad helps."

"So she's head of the student body, basically?" I ask.

"Yeah, you could put it that way," Will shrugs. Hm, I'd have to tell this to Dawn. I looked around for her, but decided I had already lost her in the crowd.

"Hey, have you heard about that one sickness?" Will asks suddenly.

"Yeah," I reply.

"My best friend, Sean," Will begins. "He just got into the hospital lately. And Alice's friend Carly is in there, too."

"Are they the most recent person to get sick?" I ask.

"I think," Will sighs. "Nobody knows what's going on. It sucks, dude."

"Yeah, it must," I whisper, and think of Emily for the first time today. Maybe Will feels like he's going to lose his best friend, Sean...I know what it feels like to lose someone. Lots of people. And I'm not going to let anyone else struggle with the pain, if I have to. It's what keeps me fighting, what gets me stronger.

"Anyway," Will continues. "When I visit the hospital, I can always Sean and the other people saying-"Give me back my soul," We both say at the same time. "Yeah," Will says. "How did you know?"

"Elizabeth's dad is a doctor," I explain, which, may or may not be true.

We stop talking for a while. I look around the gym, noticing how tense some people seemed. Probably the ones with friends in the hospital.

Suddenly, I remembered something that Dawn said earlier, something about the Soul Stealer having access to your thoughts if he got to you. "That's it!" I whisper. "Hey, do you have a cell phone on you?"

"Yeah, why?" Will asks.

"Come with me," I reply, and I sprint out of the gym. I just had a brilliant idea, most likely worthy of Dawn.

**Dawn's POV-**

After looking at the cheerleading tryout poster, I had narrowed down the 'head honchos' to three girls: Alice Collins, Angela Williams, and Carly Jones. Of course, Carly was in the hospital (that's what I've gathered), and judging by the way Angela hasn't been seen for a few hours, there's a good chance that she's in the hospital, too. So that leaves only one person: Alice.

My eyes began to scan the crowd, and I finally found her, talking with the one person she probably _shouldn't _be talking to right now: Angela Williams.

Luckily, they weren't very far away. I could see Angela was holding a cup _full _of punch, but her face was expressionless. Alice was blabbing away, but lucky for me she was avoiding eye contact with Angela, or, at least, her body.

I half-walked, half-ran over to them. "Hi, Alice, it's me, Elizabeth," I flashed her a quick smile.

"Oh, hey Elizabeth! Angela, this is Elizabeth! She's staying a while for Christmas!" Alice beamed. "I was just telling Angela about the cheerleading squad and stuff. It's starting up soon, you should join! Oh, but wait, you're only staying for what, like, a week? Aw, that sucks. But really, you should consider being a cheerleader for whatever school you go to. Or are you already a cheerleader? Oh my gosh, that's like, too cool! I _love _cheerleading!"

"Yeah, uh, that's great!" I giggled at Alice's talkativeness. I saw Angela's eyes start to glow, and knew I didn't have much time left until the Soul Stealer wanted a new body. "Hey, I need to talk to you for a second. Alone."

"Oh, hey, sure!" Alice smiles brightly. "But can we go to the bathroom to do this? I really need to re-apply some make up!"

"Sure, sure," I murmur, staring at Angela, getting ready for the slightest twitch of an eye. "Lead the way." Just before I leave, however, I snatch the cup from Angela's hand, and hold it by the rim.

Alice leads me to the girl's locker room, which is conveniently a bathroom.

"Okay," Alice says. "Go ahead and talk. I'm just gonna put some of this on." She pulls out blush and starts dabbing it at her face.

"So do you know who the latest person to get sick is?" I ask innocently, playing with the faucet, fixing my hair...doing random things to make it look casual.

"Well, I heard about two hours ago my friend Carly got sick. And before her was Ben, Sean, Savannah, and Grace," Alice looked a little sad when mentioning these names.

"Sorry about Angela," Alice says suddenly. "Usually she's a lot nicer...tonight she's been ignoring me."

"Angela isn't herself," I reply, and just before she's about to ask what I mean, I ask, "Hey, can I use that blush real quick?"

She hands it over to me, still smoothing out her hair and dress.

I blow some of it on to the cup, and sigh. "Ah, would you look at that beauty," I whispered, inspecting the fingerprint I had just found.

"What do you mean?" Alice asks, and looks at the fingerprint. About every five seconds, the shape of the print would change, and the powder would shift around. "Oi!" Alice cries. "What the heck is that?"

"A fingerprint," I shrug.

"Looks like a magic trick to me," Alice laughs.

"In a way, it is," I snort. "Changing bodies is a type of magic trick...for humans."

"Humans?" Alice giggles. "You're saying that there are aliens in this world?" She stares at me for a very long time, and I don't reply.

"Oh my gosh," Alice whispers, gripping the countertop of the sink. "What do you mean? How the heck could there be aliens?"

"I didn't say there were aliens," I giggle.

"You're implying it," Alice replies, narrowing her eyes.

"You're the one who thinks the problem with this town is _sickness. _Sickness? Couldn't you be a little more creative?" I scoff.

"Well, what else could it be?" Alice asks, shrugging.

"Virus? Technology? _Aliens?_" I suggest.

"No way," Alice giggles. "There's no way this whole thing is aliens."

I don't reply, and simply stare at her, because it's the best way to convince people: Silence.

"Oh my _gosh,_" Alice whispers. "It's an alien, isn't it?"

I nod, smirking. "Yup," I pop the 'p.'

"Who are you?" She asks.

"An alien," I reply, smiling brightly. "Time Lady, specifically."

"So _you're _causing this?" Alice cries.

"Nah, I'm here to stop it," I laugh. "I travel around...in a ship that looks like a box. Saving people...it's what I do."

"Who _are _you?" Alice repeats.

"Dawn Melody," I reply sticking out a hand. "At your service.

"Why should I trust you?" Alice snaps. "What if you're lying? Gosh, you haven't even given me a reason to believe you yet!"

"Here's your reason," I whisper. "You should trust me. Because I can bring Carly back. I can bring Sean back. I can bring Angela back. And your cell phone is going to ring in twenty seconds."

Alice narrows her eyes, so I shrug, and start to chug down the punch that was in Angela's cup. Alice gives me a funny look, and I say, "What? Just because I'm alien doesn't mean I don't get thirsty. What is this, by the way? It's good."

I take another sip, while she replies, "Red Snake Punch."

I do a spit take, and gasp, "Sorry, what?"

"It's called Hawaiian Punch," Alice laughs. "What, are you deaf?"

"N-No," I stutter. "You...said," But my voice is interrupted by the sound of Alice's cell phone ringing.

"Twenty seconds," I whisper as she picks it up.

"Hello?" Her voice is shaky, and I can barely hear a voice on the other line. Then, Alice slowly hands me the phone, and whispers, "It's for you. How did you know?"

"A hunch," I reply, shrugging, and then pick up the phone.

"Hello?" I ask into the phone, already knowing it's Dusk.

"Guess who?" Dusk laughs.

"Oh, I don't know," I reply sarcastically. "Luke? Maybe?"

Dusk chuckles. "Yeah. So, did you find-"Alice?" I interrupted. "Yeah.

"Good," Dusk replies. "I found my own little friend...his name is Will."

"Hello!" A voice shouts into the phone, and I giggle. "I guess that's Will?"

"Yeah," Dusk laughs, and I hear him say, "Hurry up!" To Will.

"So, here's what I need you to do," I start to explain.

"Already two steps ahead of you," Dusk chuckles. "Yes, we are near a computer. Yes, Will is currently hacking into his Principle's email account. Yes, I am currently using a knife from the Home Economics class, crouched under a desk, ready to cut some wires."

"Have I every told you you're _brilliant?_" I giggle.

"You could mention more often," Dusk laughs.

"So, uh..." I hesitate. "I need you to see if you can find what important emails the principal has been getting lately. Like, about meetings, or something like that, you know? Print those out for me...call me when you get them, and tell me the date."

"Got it," Dusk murmurs. "What's next?"

"I'm going to need some green wire, that should be connected to the back of the computer...about a foot of it should be good. And some blue would be nice, too!"

"Okay."

"You've _must _get these to me, got it?" I ask.

"Yup," Dusk replies.

"Whatever happens. If the Soul Stealer wants to find me, he's going to try to get as high in the rank of people as quickly as possible. So you've _got _to get these things to me, and then I can start making some funky little contraption that will help us trap him," I explain quickly.

"M'kay." I can see him nodding. "Where are you going to be?"

"The TARDIS," I reply. "Oh, and watch out for people with golden eyes!"

"I will," Dusk chuckles.

"And don't use the nanogenes, because then the Soul Stealer will be able to read your mind. Okay? Okay? Hello...?"

I realized the phone went dead, and wondered if Dusk even heard that last _very _important message. "Crap," I whisper, snapping the phone shut, and handing it back to Alice.

"Can I trust you?" Alice whispers.

"With your life," I reply, nodding. "I really _can _help you."

"And you're _sure _you aren't just insane?" Alice asks.

"You can trust me with your life," I repeat. _No promises on the second one, _I laugh inside of my head. _Because just maybe...I really am. _

**Woah! Exciting! ;) Be honest: Do you like this chapter so far? Did you like the cell phone part? It didn't come out as well as I wanted it to...but yeah. :D**

**Next chapter will be...interesting. Here's your sneak peek:**

"Can you hand me the sonic screwdriver?" I ask, holding a retro-techy-thingy with my teeth, so it comes out a little funny.

"Yeah," Alice replies, handing me my favorite little tool. "So...what's the plan after this?"

"Uh...find the alien," I reply. "Wrench, please."

Alice hands me the wrench, and then asks, "But wait...where are Dusk and Will?"

"They're -flashlight, please- in the gym, trying to track down who the alien is now, since it left Angela," I explain.

"And what if we can't find who it is? What if the alien gets to the meeting before we do?" Alice cries.

"Then...I wing it," I laugh. "Like I always do. Gum, please."

"Gum?"

"Yeah, the stuff you're chewing."

Alice gives me a funny look, so I stick my hand under her mouth, and she spits out her gum onto my hand. "Thanks. I'm-,"

And then, my voice is interrupted by another cell phone ring tone.

"Wonderful," I whisper.

"What?"

"It means trouble."

**Oooh...ha ha ha, gotta love the gum. ;) Review!**


	13. Chapter 12: Light

**Ello wonderful people reading my story! You guys are awesome! **

**Okay, so I realized I had a total brain fart last chapter, and used the American version of mobile phone, which is called a cell phone, if you didn't know...SO, I'm going to start using "mobile" now. :)**

**Anyway, ENJOY!**

**Chapter 12: The Meeting**

**Dusk's POV-**

I could hear Will typing like crazy on one of the computers. I glanced at the computer over my shoulder, and asked, "How's it going?"

"Good," Will replied. "I'm almost on. I just need to hack one last code..."

"So you're pretty good with computers?" I question, cutting some wire.

"I suppose," He replies. "Well...yeah, not many teens can hack into their principal's account." He chuckles. "So, you're telling me that the sickness is actually an _alien_?"

"Yup," I reply, cutting through the green wire carefully.

"Cool," Will murmurs. "It makes sense, though. It's funny how aliens always appear in London around Christmas time, don't you think?"

"Yeah," I snort. It _was _true, after all.

"I'm in!" Will cries, and I can practically hear the smile in his voice.

"Great, get onto his email."

"Got it."

"Now search for any important stuff...maybe something that's been starred, or something about a meeting?"

Will doesn't reply, but I can hear the clicking noises of his fingers on the keyboard.

I wondered how Dawn was doing. Will's phone had run out of battery earlier, and just when she was beginning to tell me something, his phone ran out of battery. I hope it wasn't too important or anything. Luckily, though, Will had an extra charger in his locker, so the phone was regaining battery as we speak.

"Here's something," Will says, so I get up off of the floor and walk over to the computer. "Something about a meeting with the school board...the mayor will be there."

My eyes widen. "The mayor?" Will nods. "Well that can't be good for us. When's the meeting?"

Will gasps, and replies, "Tonight!"

"What?" I cry. "Who has a meeting on Christmas Eve, _and _on the night of a school party?"

"Apparently they do," Will chuckles. "But what's so wrong with that? So what if they're having a meeting tonight?"

"Well," I start. "If my suspicion is correct, the alien will want to get into as much control as he can. That way, he can climb from principal, to mayor, to...well, it goes on and on."

"Funny thing is," I whisper. "Elizabeth says the alien wants _her. _So why isn't it trying to find her yet? Somebody must have seen her, right?"

"Maybe it's trying to get into control and _then _find her?" Will asks.

"I'm not sure," I reply. "Maybe, though. Your ideas actually aren't half bad." Will flashes me a smile, and I return it.

"Come on, print that out. We've got to get all of this stuff to D-Elizabeth," I murmur.

Will starts to print out the page, and I carefully gather both of the wires in my hand. Will grabs the paper out of the printer, and snatches up his mobile, leaving the charger. "Let's go!"

He leads me through the hallways, saying something about a 'back entrance.' I follow, hoping that we make it before...well, before anything worse happens.

Suddenly, I trip over a book that was left in the hallway. "Crap," I mutter, and my ankle throbbed. I looked down, and saw a good-sized cut with some blood gushing out.

"You okay?" Will asks.

I smile, and then reply, "Watch, I think you'll like this." I pull all of my emotions together, thinking about Dawn, the adrenaline pulsing through my veins right now...all of it. Even a little grief for Emily.

Then, the nanogenes flow out of my hand, and into my ankle. But something's up, because suddenly, I'm seeing a picture inside of my head. Of Will and myself. Like a photo taken of us, doing what we're doing. I realize I'm seeing from someone else's eyes.

My head snaps up, and Will's smiling like crazy. "Dude, that's awesome! Don't tell me you're an alien, too!"

I smile, and nod. "Healing powers," I laugh.

Then, I notice someone is behind Will. It's a girl with black hair...and golden eyes. "Crap," I mutter. "Telepathic connection."

Then, I remember something Dawn said while we were eating lunch in France. "A door can be entered from either side, if opened." Is it possible that when I read someone's mind, if they're smart enough, they can figure out how to read mine, also?

So did I just completely give away Dawn's location because I was thinking about her?

"_Crap,_" I mutter again. I look up at the alien, and stare into its golden eyes. _Stop! _A voice inside of my head whispers. _Don't look at her eyes! _

But it's too late.

Because I was already falling into darkness.

• • •

**Dawn's POV-**

Alice and I raced toward the TARDIS. "Where are we going?" She asked breathlessly.

"To my ship," I reply, and we reach the TARDIS.

Alice snorts. "_That's _your ship? Isn't it a little cramped? And it's a telephone box. Doesn't look so... 'spaceshippy' on the inside." Alice peeks through the windows.

"It's bigger on the inside, to answer your first question," I explain, and then realize I forgot the key inside. I pull out my sonic screwdriver, and then continue, "And to answer your second statement, she has a disguise system, so you can't see through the windows to the actual inside. You simply see a regular telephone box." I flick on the sonic screwdriver, and think, _It's me, Sweetie. I forgot the key. Open up, would you? _

I hear a little _click, _and the door creaks open. "Coming?" I ask.

"I...uh..." Alice stutters.

"Suit yourself," I shrug. "But I'll leave the door open. Just in case."

I skip inside the TARDIS, and whisper, "Ello, Sweetie! I just have a fingerprint I need to process..." I hold up the cup the Soul Stealer had earlier. "And then when Dusk and Will get here, I get to make a-"Oh my _gosh_!" I hear Alice cry. She's inside the TARDIS now.

"It's bigger on the inside!" I mouth the words as she says them, and then laugh.

"Yes, it is," I giggle.

"But...how...what? It's...bigger...but-"Alice, calm down," I walk over to her, and rest a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry," She whispers. "But, if you think about it...it's a lot for any...human...to take in at once."

"Yes, I suppose," I sigh. "If you're not used to all of it."

Alice continues to gaze all around the TARDIS, until I ask, "So, would you help me build a trap for the Soul Stealer?"

"Well, see, I would, but I'm not the best scientist..." She trails off.

"Oh, that's okay," I laugh. "I wasn't expecting you to be. We can't all be geniuses." I shrug. "But, anyway, you can just help give me some tools when I need them."

Alice's face lights up, and she sings, "Okay!"

I dash up the console steps, and crouch underneath the controls, pulling out a heavy box and retrieving several of its contents. Alice stares at me in awe. "What _is _all of that stuff?" She asks.

"Uh...techy stuff. From the future. My planet, specifically," I explain, and a tiny frown forms on my face when I think of Gallifrey. Beautiful, beautiful Gallifrey.

"Oh," Alice murmurs, and then pipes up again. "Are you from _Mars?_"

"No," I giggle, and start twiddling with some metal pieces and magnets, connecting some here, a few more there... "I'm from a planet called Gallifrey."

"Never heard of that before."

"That's because you humans aren't smart enough...yet."

Alice continued to ask me silly questions, such as, "Do all aliens look so...human? Aren't they supposed to be green and slimy?" I answered her questions, and then would ask for a certain tool, sometimes having to explain which was which.

"Can you hand me the sonic screwdriver?" I ask, holding a retro-techy-thingy with my teeth, so it comes out a little funny.

"Yeah," Alice replies, handing me my favorite little tool. "So...what's the plan after this?"

"Uh...find the alien," I reply. "Wrench, please."

Alice hands me the wrench, and then asks, "But wait...where are Luke and Will?"

"They're -flashlight, please- bringing some tools to us. Then they're going to track down the alien in the gym, since it left Angela's body," I explain.

"And what if we can't find who it is? What if the alien gets to the meeting before we do?" Alice cries.

"Then...I wing it," I laugh. "Like I always do. Gum, please."

"Gum?"

"Yeah, the stuff you're chewing."

Alice gives me a funny look, so I stick my hand under her mouth, and she spits out her gum onto my hand. "Thanks. I'm-,"

And then, my voice is interrupted by another cell phone ring tone.

"Wonderful," I whisper.

"What?"

"It means trouble."

Alice immediately hands me her cell phone, knowing it won't be for her. I pick it up, and ask, "Hello?"

"Uh, hey, is this Elizabeth?" A slightly familiar voice asks.

"Yeah, I assume this is Will?"

"Yes," Will replies. "Dusk and I...uh, are having some problems."

"Are Dusk's eye golden?"

"Yes."

"Is there a body lying in front of him?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so steal the stuff that's in his hands, and _run. _Get outside, and look for a telephone box by the school. Alice will be standing outside," I explain, and my throat grows a little dry.

"Got it," Will whispers. "Tell Alice I said hello."

I snap the phone shut a little angrily, and thrust it at Alice. "What's up?" She asks.

"The alien took Dusk's body," I explain. "So Will's coming here with the stuff. He says hello." Alice smiles, and I don't think she fully explains the new danger we are in. Because if, by chance, Dusk was thinking about _me _while the Soul Stealer got to him...then bad things may happen.

Of course, they will happen anyway, because now the Soul Stealer knows I'm here. Wonderful. Just great.

"I need you to stand outside," I murmur. "Then Will can find us."

Alice nods, and runs as fast as a girl can while wearing heals outside.

I grip the edge of the TARDIS console, and whisper, "Sweetie, I'm scared. Dad always seemed to get out of every situation. What if I'm not the same way? What if I can't save Dusk, and all of the other people?"

_Do not be afraid, _Sweetie whispers in my head. _You will never be alone. Not as long as I am here. _

"Thanks," I murmur. "Guess I'd better finish this."

**Dusk's POV-**

"Crap," I whisper, standing up and brushing off my knees. I look around, and sure enough, it looks exactly like Dawn said it would look like: A huge, black, open area...with hundreds of other people sitting down, standing up, pacing...each of them in their own little circle of people, whether they are strangers, or the best of friends.

A girl with long, brown hair approaches me. I look a little closer, and notice that I've seen her before, but I can't quite put my finger on it. There is a boy next to her, with spiky black hair, and light blue eyes.

The girl tilts her head a little, and looks me over. "You don't look familiar," She murmurs.

"I'm...Dusk," I explained, deciding to use my real name. "I'm visiting this town for Christmas break, with my friend, Dawn."

"Dawn," The girl whispers, over and over. "Melody?"

I nod. "Your friend is in grave danger," The girl whispers. "I can see it in the Soul Stealer's mind. Close your eyes...listen."

So I closed my eyes, wondering how this mysterious girl could possibly know all of these things. And then, I have my answers: There are voices, whispering to me. So many things...about the past, present...the future. Beautiful things, frightening things, cheerful things, heartbreaking things...a giant story, wrapped up in one, huge, mind.

My eyes shoot open, and the girl, who I have discovered is named Angela, whispers, "We all share a mind now. The Soul Stealer is our route to each other. I am Angela, this is Sean. My future partner, as I have learned." Sean flashed her a huge grin, and Angela blushed fiercely. "We share everything that we have learned through our minds. Some of us are from the future, some from the past...some from our present." Angela's voice was...misty. Like someone telling a prophecy.

"How do we get out?" I ask, and Angela's voice whispered in my head, _Figure out for yourself. _

I close my eyes, and search through the Soul Stealer's thoughts. Finally, I see several pictures: Like a movie in my head. Dawn was standing in front of me. Or, at least, my body. Her eyes had something in them, some emotion I couldn't identify. So I looked further into them, enjoying this new knowledge of everything. It was fear...concern...love...anxiety...but above all...anger. And I didn't know why.

I went back, letting the "movie" progress. Dawn was standing in front of me, holding a mirror, and my eyes were glowing. Fear coursed through me, and regret. Now I understood why she tried giving me a second chance. She was being kind.

My eyes fluttered open, and I realized these weren't _my _thoughts anymore. They were the Soul Stealer's.

"But how does it know the future?" I asked Angela.

"It shares thoughts with all of those around it," Angela explains in a whisper. "But is still trying...because sometimes, time can be re-written."

"Do you think Dawn will get us out?" I ask.

"I am sure of it," Angela murmurs. "She is so brilliant. Her future so loving, kind, happy...and then there is the sadness, the depression...but humans will save her. Their concern will be her salvation."

"Don't tell me anymore," I whisper. "I don't want to know."

Angela smiles softly. "It is all right," She whispers. "I understand. And thank you."

"For what?" I ask.

"You said I was beautiful. In your head. Somewhere." Angela laughs, and even Sean chuckles slightly.

"Will we still have access to all of this knowledge when we get out?" I ask.

"No," Angela whispers. "All will be forgotten. Except for what we knew before."

I close my eyes, and look into what I know about Dawn. Because, when I get out, it won't matter, because I'll forget about it. And as soon as I start, I regretted it.

Because her past was _so _painful. _So _lonely. And _so _frightening.

And yet, there was hope, somewhere, in that big ball of...emotions. "Like Pandora's box," I hear Dawn's voice whisper in my head. My eyes shot open, but she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were little nanogenes floating around me. I guess because of all the emotions flowing through me, they must have come out. "You're still here," I chuckle.

I close my eyes again, but this time, a bolt of fear strikes me. I realize it was the Soul Stealer's, and try to connect my mind to what he was seeing.

It was Dawn. She was in front of me, holding a little contraption. "Hi, Dusk," She whispers. "I know you're in there...somewhere. And by now, you've probably figured out quite a bit about my past. Just know...I don't mind. Because I was going to tell you eventually. It was scary." A look of terror crosses over her face. "But you'll forget by the time I get you out. So...it doesn't really matter."

Suddenly, my vision and sound is cut off, and a fierce voice in my head whispers, "You will stay out of this!" I realized it was the Soul Stealer's.

"No!" I shout back at it. I close my eyes tightly, and quickly begin pushing back into the vision and sound connection. "Dawn," I whisper. "If you can hear me, get a mirror! I don't know exactly why, but-," Excruciating pain is sent through me, and I scream.

"What the heck was that?" I weakly ask Angela when my eyes open, but instead, Sean answers.

"The Soul Stealer is still stronger than all of us. So strong, in fact, that it can make untrue things real. Such as pain," He explains.

"So what do we do now?" I ask.

"We wait," Angela and Sean whisper at the same time.

**Dawn's POV-**

I fiddled around with a few more things, and then murmured, "Perfect!"

"Oh my _gosh,_" A masculine voice says. I whip around, and smile when I see Will and Alice. Will's eyes were wide, and he was staring around the TARDIS.

"You like it?" I ask, giggling.

"Wow," He whispers.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," I mumble. _Or, at least, Dad does. _

"So, uh, do you need these?" Will asks, holding out the wires and printed out pages.

"Oh, yeah!" I exclaim, and dash over to him. I snatch the wires from his hands, and set the papers on the ground, then start connecting the wires to other circuits. Finally, I finish it. "Beautiful," I whisper, and flick the 'on' switch. A little map projection appears out of the sphere of wires, glass, and other random things I had made, and it showed a blinking red dot, which showed the Soul Stealer's location. "Ooh, it _worked! _I feel so...accomplished! Oh, this is brilliant!"

I marveled at my invention a few more seconds, and then flicked it off, and set it on the ground, picking up the papers on my way up. My eyes scanned the page, and when I was done, I cried, "Who the heck plans a meeting _tonight, _of all nights?"

"That's what Luke and I were wondering!" Will cries.

"Dusk," I correct, and Will gives me a funny look. "Luke is a codename," I explain. "So is Elizabeth, by the way. My real name is Dawn."

"Oh," Will sighs. "Got it."

"Anyway, I've got to figure this out. Of course..." I murmur. "I still have to figure out a way to trap the Soul Stealer, too."

Will and Alice give me strange looks as I start to techno-babble. "But that's just not right!" I exclaim at one point. "Because then the gravitational fields would go _boom, _and time and space would collapse and you guys have no idea what I'm saying, do you?" They both shake their heads, and I grimace. "Come on, then. Let's go."

I race out of the TARDIS, into the cold, night air, and hear Alice and Will's footsteps behind me.

• • •

I was standing in front of the Soul Stealer, while Alice and Will were finding which room the meeting was in.

Dusk's eyes were golden, and surprisingly, I kind of missed seeing those bright blue orbs of his. Crap...promised myself I wouldn't think thoughts like this. Especially after the whole Marth/Emily clash.

"Dusk," I whisper. "You're in there somewhere. Can you hear me? Just...give me some sort of sign, if you can." I avoided looking at his eyes.

Just as I finished that sentence, a whole flood of emotions hit me: Depression, sadness, fear...and hope. "Like Pandora's box," I whisper, knowing Dusk can hear me. He's probably discovering about my past right now.

"Hi, Dusk," I whisper. "I know you're in there...somewhere. And by now, you've probably figured out quite a bit about my past. Just know...I don't mind. Because I was going to tell you eventually. It was scary." I probably looked terrified right now. "But you'll forget by the time I get you out. So...it doesn't really matter."

Suddenly, I notice Dusk's fingers twitch a little, and hear the word, "Dawn," In a faint whisper. I look up at Dusk's eyes, and see them flickering between blue and gold, blue and gold, over and over.

"If you can hear me, get a mirror! I don't know exactly why, but-," His voice got cut off, and I slapped a hand to my forehead.

"Of course!" I whisper. "A mirror! The one thing a Soul Stealer is afraid of...the image of itself. The only place it can be trapped...oh, that's it! Thanks, Dusk!"

I start racing down the hall, knowing I don't have much time left.

"Alice! Will!" I call, and eventually, I hear Alice yell, "Dawn, we're over here!"

I skid to a stop, and look behind me. There they are, standing in front of a door, peeking through the window. "Ah, there you are." Suddenly, I stop, and become confused. I can feel tons of energy swirling all around me. Not just human energy. Alien energy. My head is telling me to worry about it later, but my heart _really _wants to investigate now. I decide to go with my brain, and push the strange feeling away.

"Alice, tell me, do you know any place we could get a mirror, about...oh..." I made a square with my hands. "Yay big?"

"Yeah, of course," Alice smiled. "I've got one in my locker! After all, I'm a blond, aren't we supposed to be obsessive over our looks?"

I giggle, and reply, "I think every teenage girl is. Even geniuses like moi." I jab two thumbs at myself, and smile. "But, come on, we don't have much time!"

"How much do you think we have, exactly?" Will asks.

"Well, Dusk knows a lot, so the Soul Stealer will want to analyze every bit of information he knows about me. Which means we'll have a little more time than everyone else did," I explain.

"How much is that?" Alice asks. "An hour?"

"Five," I reply, and bounce on my feet, ready to get going.

"Five _hours_?" She cries.

"Five," I repeat.

"What?"

"Minutes."

"That's _longer_?"

"Yup. Come on, let's go."

She starts leading me towards her locker, which is luckily close by. I bounce from one foot to the other as she does the combination, and then takes out a mirror. "Great. Come on, let's go."

We start to sprint back to where I last saw the Soul Stealer, and Alice asks, "So, what's the plan?"

"I'm going to look into the Soul Stealer's eyes," I begin, and Alice gives me a surprised glance. "Don't give me that look. Just listen. So, I look into its eyes, and when the time is right, you stick the mirror in front of _my _eyes, and we trap it inside the mirror. I'll take care of it from there."

Alice nods, and asks, "But how will I know the time is right?"

"You will," I whisper. "Trust me." I hope that sounds more confident than I feel. "Tired?"

"Naw," Alice replies. "The adrenaline definitely helps, though."

"Got that right," I laugh.

"Do you live like this everyday?"

I hesitate, and then reply, "Sort of."

Eventually, we reach the Soul Stealer, who is still just standing there. "Ello," I whisper, and smile. "I'm Dawn Melody, if you haven't figured it out yet. And I'm sure you want me."

The Soul Stealer stays silent, and I snap, "Well, come on then! Answer me! Because you know what? I'm giving in." It was a bluff, but he didn't have to know that. The Soul Stealer's eyes glowed, and I smirked.

It took all the power within me not to look away. I allowed myself to gaze into the Soul Stealer's eyes, and heard voices in my head whisper, "No!" One, however, was the loudest, and cried, "Dawn! Stop! What are you doing?"

I willed Alice to stick the mirror out with my mind. The poor Soul Stealer hadn't even noticed her yet.

As if she could read my mind, Alice put the mirror in front of my eyes just in time, and I watched as Dusk's body fell to the ground, and the connection between us broke.

I put a hand to my head, and grabbed the mirror out of Alice's hands. "Woah," Was all she said. I smiled weakly at her.

I turned the mirror to face me, and immediately faced it toward the ground again, because it was so bright. "There you are," I whispered. "Your true form. Light. Evil, colorful light, sure. But you are still light. And you still have everyone inside of you. So I'm sorry, but I have no choice."

I smashed the mirror onto the floor.

"Even the brightest light can burn out," I whispered, and a tear slid down my cheek. I hastily wiped it away, and listened as a small whimper came out of the mirror. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

**Hm...what did Dawn mean by "even the brightest light can burn out?" **

**And what about that weird energy by the classroom? What was **_**that **_**about?**

**Mu ha ha...guess who's here next chapter? Tell me your predictions in a review! ;)**

**Stay tuned! Here's a sneak peek!**

"And that's why-," The sound of a phone ringing cut off the sound of my voice. Dusk looked down at the console, and then back up at me.

"You have a _phone_?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Of course. Doesn't everyone?"

"Yeah, but...this is a spaceship. _And _a time traveling machine."

"So? And answer the thing, would ya? I'm sort of busy with some coordinates here."

Dusk gave me a funny look, and picked up the phone. "H-Hello?" He asked.

I heard the faint reply, and Dusk smiled. "Hey, Alice! Did Dawn give you her number or something?"

I smiled widely, and then frowned. If Alice was calling me, then something was wrong. I thought back to that weird energy I had felt yesterday by that classroom...is it possible that's what is wrong?

"She wants to talk to you," Dusk murmured, and I reached for the phone.

"Hey Alice," I breathlessly spoke into the receiver.

"Dawn! So good to hear your voice!" Alice squeals. "Anyway...I'm calling because something kind of weird is going on at school, and I thought you might want to know about it."

"What's up?" I ask, and my interest perks. Yes! More adventure!

"See...there are these kids going missing," Alice explained. "I did some investigating, because I decided I may as well have some good information when I called. And I figured out that the last time any of them were seen was when they were in class. But that's not all. They were all in the _same _class."

"Strange," I murmur. "Very strange. I'll be there."

"Yay!" Alice cries. "I've got to tell Will! He'll be psyched to see Dusk again!"

"Hey, Alice? What's the date?"

"Oh right, I forgot you're in a time machine..." Alice murmurs. "Two weeks after Christmas. I'll meet you in the park at three, okay?"

"Got it! Bye!" I hang up the phone, and flash a smile at Dusk.

"We're going back there, aren't we?" He asked, fighting a smile.

"Yup."

"Awesome."

**Yes, there **_**is **_**another adventure with Alice and Will! :) Be honest, do you like them?**

**Stay tuned!**


	14. Chapter 13: School!

**Bwah, sorry it took me a while longer than usual to update. I had writer's block for a while, but I worked out the next few chapters/adventures yesterday, and let me just say this: It's...gonna...be...EPIC. :D**

**Mu ha ha...you guys are going to love this chapter. GUESS WHO'S HERE? :D Only I know...heh heh heh.**

**And just to let you know, I call these types of chapters "The forgotten adventures of Doctor Who." **

**Hope you understand all the "enrollment stuff." ;)**

**ENJOY! Oh yeah...here's an intro!**

**Chapter 13: School?**

**Margaret's POV-**

"Now, don't forget, there's a quiz when you come back on the Scientific Method! Study, and you'll do well, I promise! And...Johnny, if you could see me after class, that would be great. Have a nice holiday, everyone!"

My eight grade students rushed out the door, excited for their well-earned break. Johnny came up to me, and asked, "I-Is there something wrong, Miss T?"

"Oh, no," I whispered, and smiled softly. "I just wanted to know what books you were reading right now."

"Willow," Johnny replied shyly, and sheepishly smiled.

I grinned as wide as I could, and whispered, "Well, I've heard that's a very good book." I glanced behind his shoulder, and saw what I now feared most: Smiley faces. One of them was turning red. I knew I had to keep Johnny talking.

"Planning on doing anything this weekend?" I asked, and blinked quickly to hold back tears when I saw the strange electronic device slip out of the now angry face's mouth.

"Yes, I'm going to visit my older sister at her college. We're spending the holiday with her," Johnny grinned widely, and continued, "It's been over a year since I last saw her."

A sharp pang hit my throat, and I stared at the strange electronic flying thing behind Johnny. I didn't reply, because I knew the moment was coming.

Johnny screamed in pain when one of the knives sliced him. I looked away, and a tear slid down my cheek.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "But it may still be a while before you see your sister again, Johnny."

The poor child. It was getting easier, though. The whole murdering thing. I mean, they weren't _really _dying, apparently. But I hated seeing them go through so much pain before the transition.

Was it really worth it? I had asked myself the question about a thousand times. Ever since _they _came. Was it really worth all of these lives, all of these _children's _lives, just to save mine?

I knew the answer. Of course it was...right?

Right?

I'm just not so sure anymore...but what am I supposed to do about it?

**Dawn's POV-**

I was in the TARDIS, tiredly flicking some controls. It was the morning after the whole "Soul Stealer" incident.

I had explained everything yesterday. Not only to Alice and Will, but to Dusk, also. Alice and Will were back at Dusk's home city, and I had told them how the TARDIS could time travel, also. They took it all quite well, actually. Alice begged me for it, so I gave her the TARDIS's phone number so she could call when she wanted to. I think I've made a new friend...or two.

To Dusk, however, I had explained some...different, to put it lightly, things.

Everyone had come back after I smashed the mirror, because the souls were free to go. Angela was safe, according to Alice, and Dusk had come back with a slight headache, but said he was all right.

After the final goodbyes, I had told Dusk we needed to talk, since I figured it was time he knew _fully _about my past...the whole thing went a little like this...

I rested my head on the TARDIS doors, and Dusk murmured, "You okay?"

I sighed, and replied, "I should be asking you that question."

"I'm fine."

"I'm...fine, too," I answered his question.

Dusk gave me that look that said I'm-_not_-buying-that-whatever-you-say. "Dusk," I began. "You don't...remember anything that you learned, do you?"

"Only that I knew almost everything," He whispered. "And that I learned something about you...but I can't remember it."

"I think it's time you know about who I really am. And the story won't be...pretty."

Dusk nods, and so I start to explain. From the very _beginning. _

"My mum's name is River Song, and my Dad is called 'The Doctor.' Mum was pregnant with me, and he didn't know it...he still doesn't know I'm alive. She gave birth to me, but couldn't find a way to reach my Dad, since he was always flying around in that TARDIS of his." I chuckled at the thought.

"I was born on Earth, actually. Not some crazy alien planet. Mum raised me well, teaching me about being a Time Lord, but it wasn't enough...I didn't quite understand all of it.

"Eventually, she started writing me these diaries...saying something about how I would need them in the future. I nodded, but still didn't quite understand. I read a few pages of them, learning about the life of a Time Lady.

"Until one day, she took me to my father's planet: Gallifrey. She put me in this TARDIS, and told me to go on adventures, so that I could live earlier in her life, and my father would know I actually existed. So that's what I'm doing, trying to find parents who don't know I exist. And, of course, saving the world along the way."

"It was a very harsh eight years," I murmured as a tear slipped down my cheek. "The first month was cruel. I didn't quite understand how lonely I truly was, but eventually, it caught up to me, and I didn't _do _anything. I ate, I slept, I did all the normal things like that, but I wasn't _me._

"And then one day, it was my sixth birthday, good ol' Sweetie here gave me a birthday present: A short little note from Mum that changed me so much. Sweetie also showed me how to get to the library, and that started the whole 'research one topic for a month' thing. I started to become alive again...started to become who I am today."

"But you said something earlier," Dusk whispered. "I remember...about a light, going out. What was that about?"

"When I was younger," I began. "I would always keep the light in my room on. Always. Because I was scared if I turned it off, I would forget about my mum. Kind of like when you feel like if you change something just a little, it will ruin all you've worked for. And I worked on keeping mum in my memory. One day, I finally turned it off. It was scary, at first. My room was always a sanctuary...and with the light off, it felt like more of a graveyard. So I filled it up with countless drawings of mum, and what I thought my dad looked like, so I would never, _ever _forget."

Dusk nodded, and moved a hand to touch my shoulder. "Thanks," I whispered. He simply nodded again.

"Are we still going to go on adventures tomorrow?" Dusk asked, and I could tell he was trying to change the subject.

I immediately turned back into my perky, hyper self. "Of _course! _What do you think, want to do a vacation? Paris, Australlia...ooh, I don't think we've gone to Mars yet!"

I yawned, and flicked one more switch. It was about seven o'clock in the morning, TARDIS time. My muscles were aching, but the thought of another adventure made me smile, and gave me a little more energy.

"So," I heard Dusk's approaching voice say. "Where are we going today?"

"I was thinking about going to-," The chime of a phone ringing cut off the sound of my voice. Dusk looked down at the console, and then back up at me.

"You have a _phone_?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Of course. Doesn't everyone?"

"Yeah, but...this is a spaceship. _And _a time traveling machine."

"So? And answer the thing, would ya? I'm sort of busy with some coordinates here."

Dusk gave me a funny look, and picked up the phone. "H-Hello?" He asked.

I heard the faint reply, and Dusk smiled. "Hey, Alice! Did Dawn give you her number or something?"

I smiled widely, and then frowned. If Alice was calling me, then something was not right. I thought back to that weird energy I had felt yesterday by that classroom...is it possible that's what is wrong?

"She wants to talk to you," Dusk murmured, and I reached for the phone.

"Hey Alice," I breathlessly spoke into the receiver.

"Dawn! So good to hear your voice!" Alice squeals. "Anyway...I'm calling because something kind of weird is going on at school, and I thought you might want to know about it."

"What's up?" I ask, and my interest perks. Yes! More adventure!

"See...there are these kids going missing," Alice explained. "I did some investigating, because I decided I may as well have some good information when I called. And I figured out that the last time any of them were seen was when they were in their seventh period class. But that's not all. They were all in the _same _class."

"Strange," I murmur. "Very strange. I'll be there."

"Yay!" Alice cries. "I've got to tell Will! He'll be psyched to see Dusk again!"

"Hey, Alice? What's the date?"

"Oh right, I forgot you're in a time machine..." Alice murmurs. "Two weeks after Christmas. I'll meet you in the park at three, okay?"

"Got it! Bye!" I hang up the phone, and flash a smile at Dusk.

"We're going back there, aren't we?" He asked, fighting a smile.

"Yup."

"Awesome."

• • •

"See, and that's why it got the name blue," I finished explaining as Dusk and I strolled through the park. I was explaining him how the word "blue" got its name.

"But what about hamburgers? And blue cheese? What's up with that?"

"Those are only blue in the future," I began. "Blue cheese...well, that's a good question. I haven't studied up on my cheeses yet. I'll get to it...someday."

"How did we get from blue to hamburgers to cheese?" Dusk questioned, and then rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, you're the one who asks so many questions," I giggled, and nudged him. We were waiting for Alice in the park. Not many people were outside, and I looked around. My interest pricked a little when I saw a blue police box.

"Hey, Dusk," I murmured. "Do you recognize that?" I pointed at the police box.

"Yeah, that's always been there," He shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I replied, smiling a little at the irony. Of course Dad wasn't here. He couldn't be.

Could he?

Suddenly, a voice squealed behind us, "Dawn, Dusk! Hi!" We both turned around, and saw an excited Alice bounding through the snow over to us.

"Hey!" I smiled, just as enthusiastic as her. She hugged me tightly.

"Hi, Dusk!" She giggled, and waved.

"Why so happy?" I ask, smiling widely.

"I missed you guys," Alice murmured, staring at the ground. "I mean, I know it was only one night, but..."

"We're still friends," I smiled. She nodded, glad I understood.

"So," I began. "If I want to do some real investigating, I have to get inside the school. Too bad we aren't enrolled here, Dusk. But we'd have to have parents sign us up, and-," I stopped abruptly, and sighed.

Dusk nodded, and whispered, "It's okay."

I smiled sadly at him, and continued, "Alice, I'm going to need you to be our inside agent. Will, also, he can help."

"See, that's the thing!" Alice smiled widely. "You came by earlier today, saying something about wibley-wobley timey-wimey...about an hour before now. And you dropped off these. "

She handed me a few documents, and I saw two of them were enrollment papers. They were signed by some random adult's names, a different set for both Dusk and I. All the information was filled in, and I realized it had the words _Parent_ _Copy _at the topof the paper, so that meant the real papers had already been turned in, so Dusk and I were already enrolled in the school.

I started to laugh, and then murmured, "I sure do break that 'don't mess with your own timeline' law a lot. I must come back later and turn these enrollment papers in...that's crazy."

"Look under those papers!" Alice squeals. I take two half sheets of paper from the bottom of the small pile I was holding, and saw two schedules.

"Awesome," I whispered. "Look, Dusk...we share almost all the same classes, except I have band fourth period, and you have gym. Holy _cow, _we're going to school!" I squealed the last part out, and started bouncing up and down excitedly.

Dusk gives me a funny look, and I say, "What? I've been locked up in the TARDIS for eight years. I've never had the chance to go to school before."

"I know, but...well, are you sure about this?" Dusk asked uncertainly.

"What happened to 'let's go on an adventure?'"

"School is not an adventure."

"You've never even been to school!"

"Well," Dusk whined.

"Well," I mocked, and then we both started laughing quietly.

"So, when _does _school start?" I asked Alice.

"Uh...tomorrow," Alice replies. "In the morning. At seven-thirty. Of course, you have a time machine, so it doesn't really matter, right?"

"Yeah, but I like living life as normally as possible. Well, at least, as normal as you can get, being a Time Lady and all."

I smirk, and Alice says, "So, you'll be there tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" I exclaim, and pump a fist into the air. This may just be our best adventure yet.

• • •

It was nine o'clock that night, TARDIS time. I was lying on my bed, tossing a hackie sack into the air, and catching it again.

I wondered what tomorrow would bring. I had gone through my schedule about ten times, and had it memorized. I read over the sheet one last time though, just to be sure.

_First Period: English- Mrs. Nobel_

_Second Period: Band- Mr. Morris_

_Third Period: History- Ms. Finch_

_Fourth Period: Lunch_

_Fifth Period: Math- Mr. Smith_

_Sixth Period: Study Hall- Mr. Smith's room/Library_

_Seventh Period: Science- Mrs. Taylor_

Alice said that the missing students had come from Mrs. Taylor's class, and so I was very excited to investigate. Study hall would be fun, too...maybe Mr. Smith was lenient and would let me walk around the halls...also known as "investigating."

A light knock sounded on my door, and I said, "Come in!"

Dusk entered my room. "Hey, what's up?"

"Okay, so, I know this is going to sound really childish, but...I'm nervous. For school, I mean," Dusk stared at his feet.

I weakly smiled. If only he knew how I felt. "Who are you and what have you done with Jason James?" I giggled. "You can fight off an army of Mazai, heal yourself simply by gathering your emotions together, and read people's minds while doing that, but you're scared to go to school?"

Dusk looked up at me, and the corner of his mouth was pulled up into that crooked smile I loved. "I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always?" I giggled. He smiled sheepishly, and I continued, "But don't worry about it. You'll be fine, I promise. We both will. Who knows, maybe we'll like it. I don't know how long we'll be staying...but oh well."

Dusk sat at the foot of my bed, and I didn't move a muscle, scared that would make him uncomfortable. Instead, I continued to throw the hackie sack up and down, up and down.

"So, what exactly do you plan on doing in band?" Dusk asks.

"Oh, I don't know. I know how to play almost every instrument," I shrugged.

"Almost?" Dusk raised an eyebrow.

"I never learned the tuba," I giggled. "Quite a size difference, you know?"

"Oh," Dusk laughed. "What's your favorite? Instrument, I mean."

"The oboe," I replied. "I always liked its sound, and it's a challenge to play sometimes because of all the pressure. I think I'll bring one of my oboes to band tomorrow. Probably Jimmy."

"Jimmy?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I have thousands of instruments. Hundreds of oboes. Do you _really _expect someone as creative as me to call them 'oboe number one,' and 'oboe number two?'"

Dusk laughed, and I giggled, also. Obviously, his nerves were fading a little. I was glad, because my eyes were starting to droop a little, and I yawned.

He noticed. "Night, Dawn," he whispered just as I fell asleep on top of the covers.

• • •

I spun the dial of my new lock, trying to resist the urge to pull out my sonic screwdriver and just click it open.

Next to me, Dusk murmured, "Wow."

"I know, right?"

This morning had been crazy so far. Dusk and I had woken up, gotten ready, and then I had flown the TARDIS by the school. We eventually made it inside, with about ten minutes to spare. I started reviewing the map I had in my pocket, and smiled when the bell finally rang to give us the 'okay' to get to class.

Several kids had given Dusk and I kind looks, and a lot of the girls had come up to me and introduced themselves. I even saw Angela and her boyfriend Sean, who were apparently dating now. After the sickness, they didn't remember anything that had happened, except that they spent lots of time with each other.

Unfortunately, I hadn't seen Alice or Will yet. Alice said she had almost the exact same schedule as mine, and would walk Dusk and I to most of our classes. So for now, we were on our own.

"Come on," I muttered, and pushed a backpack I had chosen this morning into the locker. I took a student planner, a pencil, a pen, and a notebook out of it, and Dusk did the same.

"I can't believe the TARDIS has a room just for school supplies," Dusk chuckled.

I giggled, and replied, "The TARDIS has a room for almost anything, Dusk. Now, come on, or we'll be late for homeroom. And you _don't _want to be late for that. Especially since we're new."

We walked quickly to the room, my eyes on my map the whole time. "So, explain the whole red concept to me, then. How was that named?"

I nudged Dusk, and he laughed.

Eventually, we made it to homeroom, and I led Dusk to the teacher's desk. There was a middle aged women with brown hair sitting there, and she was wearing some funky reading glasses. I smiled at her, and shyly said, "Uh, hi...Ms. Nobel, right?"

"Yes, that's me!" Ms. Nobel said cheerfully. "Ah, you two must be the new students! Dawn and Jason, right?"

We both nodded. Both of us had decided it would be best to use our real names, because no one actually knew Dusk's real name, and they wouldn't remember he was a thief.

"Ah, I'll get you situated here...let's see...Jason, you will sit over there. Dawn, you will sit by him. Would you like to be introduced to the class, or no?"

I glanced briefly at Dusk, who shrugged, meaning, 'I don't care.'

"No thanks," I smiled slightly.

"Well, all right then. Class will begin soon, so, please take a seat. It may take a while for you to get caught up, but we'll do our best, yeah?"

Dusk and I nodded, and I turned pivoted on my heel to sit down. Thankfully, no one was staring at us like we were crazy, but there were a few guys I caught looking me over.

Idiots.

After about five minutes, Mrs. Nobel called attention to the class.

"Now, class, would someone like to summarize what we've been learning lately? Yes, Alice."

I looked around and saw Alice sitting in a seat close by Dusk. We exchanged a knowing glance. As if I would need a review...I probably know even more about English than Mrs. Nobel does.

"Well, lately, we've been learning about elements of a plot in a story."

I nodded.

"Do you know anything about these, Dawn? Jason?"

I raised a hand, and Mrs. Nobel nodded toward me. "Yeah, there's the setting, characters, conflict, resolution, and five details leading to the resolution. Then you could get into the antagonist and protagonist stuff, but that just makes it more complicated. Of course, there's always the fact that you have to know what conflicts are in order to find the conflict _in _a story. So the conflicts are man versus man, man versus himself, man versus nature, man versus society, and man versus an idea." I named each thing by pointing to one of my fingers.

Mrs. Nobel nodded. "Very good. We haven't quite gotten into protagonist and antagonist yet, but I'm glad you probably won't be behind that much." I smiled, and nodded.

Little did she know that not only was I caught up, I was much, _much _further ahead than everyone else.

• • •

I was walking with Alice to Mr. Smith's room later that day.

"So, how has everything been going?" Alice asked. "Sorry we didn't get to talk much at lunch." She added at the end.

"It's been going well. Really well, actually. I think all of the teachers like me."

"Mr. Morris loves you," Alice laughed. "He thinks you're the best thing that has ever happened to our band."

"I've been playing for eight years," I shrugged.

"I've been playing the saxophone for nine, and I'm still terrible," Alice laughed. "I started _way _tooearly."

"So, what's Mr. Smith like?" I asked.

"_Crazy!_" Alice giggled. "And awesome. He's my favorite teacher. But he knows so much. It's like having one teacher that can teach you all of the subjects."

"Cool," I murmured.

"You know, the weirdest thing about him is this bow tie he always wears. And he has a teacher assistant that comes to school everyday. She's a red head."

My brow creased, and my stomach started to get butterflies. Police box earlier? Red head? Bow tie? It can't be dad...can it?

We eventually reached the classroom, and I tried to push away any negative thoughts. On the board were the words: "Dawn, Jason, you will sit in the two front seats on the far left side. Sorry if I'm running late. Welcome to Junior High School."

I let out a breath I was holding. Of course it wouldn't be dad. Of course.

Yet...way, way, _way _deep down, I was strangely hoping it would be. I've never even seen my dad up close...or spoken a single word to him.

I noticed Dusk was already there, talking with Will, who was behind him. I took the seat next to him. "Hey," I whispered.

"Hey, Dawn," Dusk replied. "How-"_Sorry, _sorry, everyone!" A masculine voice said. "I'm late, I know! But, I had to fix my bow tie after lunch, and I _thought _Amy here had gone to the store to get me a fez, but apparently, she doesn't think I would look professional enough."

My stomach flip-flopped. Amy? Bow tie? _Fez_? Oh boy...

A very familiar man walked into the room. Someone I thought I'd never, _ever _see.

_Dad. _

**Oh man, I don't want to end it there, but I must! And guess what? I'm sorry, but I'm not going to give you a sneak peek this chapter! :(**

**Want to know why? Well, if I tell you anything for next chapter, it will probably ruin it for you!**

**Did you like this chapter? Are you excited for what lies ahead?**

**Who guessed the Doctor and Amy would be here?**

**MU HA HA! Review, please!**


	15. Chapter 14: The Exchange

**Ello! I'm back! **

**Urgh...I've had to re-write this chapter about three times. Sorry if it's terrible. But I finally worked through my writer's block, so it **_**should **_**be okay. I hope. :D**

**Hope you guys have seen the Tenth Doctor "Adipose" episode...I think it was called "Partners in Crime?" It's okay if you haven't, I just make a reference to that this chapter. **

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 14: Smith and Smith**

**Dawn's POV-**

There he was. Wearing a tan sports coat, a button-up shirt, some black pants, and _the_ bow tie. His hair was a mess, as mom said it usually was, and I could see the light of excitement in his eyes from where I was seated.

My throat went dry, and my stomach flopped. Without thinking, my hand slid down, and found Dusk's. I squeezed it. He looked at me, concerned, but my head was bowed to hide tears of happy _and _sadness.

I quickly pulled myself together, and wondered what would happen. Would Dad be able to read my thoughts? Maybe I had some crazy ability that allowed him to _not _read my mind? Maybe only the Master can. That sure would be helpful.

"All right, then," Dad said, clapping his hands together. "Let's see...oh, what am I forgetting...ah, right, the board!" He turned around, read the message on the board and laughed. "Right, how could I forget? Dawn, Jason, are you two in here?"

I was afraid what would happen when I made eye contact with the Doctor. But I did it anyways. Dusk raised his hand in a wave.

Dad looked at Dusk first, and then smiled. "Ah, hello, there. You are Jason, I assume? Good. Do you like bow ties, Jason?"

Jason nodded. "Good. I like you. You're cool."

"And you?" His gaze switched to me, and his eyes widened ever so slightly. "You're Dawn, correct?"

I nodded. Dad approached my desk, and I willed him not to read my thoughts, _so _hoping that I had some ability where they were disguised.

He leaned in towards me, putting his hands on my desk, and whispered, "Have we met before?"

I shook my head, afraid to say any words. My eyes started to water again, so I took a slow, deep breath in, and then blinked quickly to make the tears disappear. _Dad. _The word whispered inside my head, and I looked all over him. I wanted so badly to reach out and hug him, because now I had finally found him. After thirteen _years. _You may say that I first met him on my first adventure, but I don't think that counts.

"Sorry...you just look...familiar. Very pretty eyes, by the way." He smiled kindly at me, and I tried to smile back. It worked, and my tiny smile broke out into a grin.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"Well then!" The Doctor cried, becoming his random, crazy self again. "Let's get started! I'm going to very quickly assess what you both know. We'll start with Jason."

Dusk did quite well. I was proud of him. It was no complicated algebra or anything, nor was it the explanation of how blue got its name, but he sure was something.

I smiled when the Doctor started to ask me simple math questions. I answered them quickly, and then he would let a new question flow out. His voice sounded like a lullaby to me. I can't believe I get to see him, meet him, and be his _student, _after thirteen years.

Eventually, he raised the difficulty a notch, but I answered even more fluently and confidently. This continued, until we were almost having a competition.

"What's four hundred-thousand fifty-two divided by five?"

"Eighty-thousand ten point four," I replied, and then another flow of questions would begin.

After a while, he asked me a question no normal kid could answer, and I decided to show off. Just a smidge.

Dad chuckled, and continued, "Don't suppose you know what the Slitheen are, eh?"

"What, you mean those big, green, slimy things? Course I know what those are. They hid inside overweight people...when they were here on Earth."

The Doctor stares at me with _that _look, and then it disappears. "Alright then! Let's get started! English, right? Wait, no...no, math. Yes, Amy, give me those papers, would you? Jason, Dawn, you'll have to catch up on some assignments I have for you..."

• • •

"Great, everyone, have a good rest of the day! Don't forget to work on the homework due Wednesday!" Dad smiled, and then excused the class.

I stayed in my seat, because I had study hall. No way was I going to the library or wandering around the school now. Investigating could wait.

"Ah, Dawn," The Doctor murmured. He approaches my desk. "You have study hall now, in my room, correct?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Good. I was wondering, how do you know who the Slitheen are?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I could send you to the principal's office for talking back."

"Touché."

"Answer, then."

"Really, Mr. Smith," I shrugged. "With all the alien stuff going on lately, who doesn't know about the Slitheen? Besides, I like studying about planets and stuff."

Mr. Smith raised an eyebrow and murmured, "Really? Tell me about that. I like getting to know my students." He pulled up a chair from the desk next to me, and sat across from me.

"Well," I whispered. I knew I had to keep it low, so that he wouldn't start figuring out who I was. "I always thought the stars were fascinating. I grew up in a place where you could see hundreds, _thousands _of them. I was all alone, though.

"I've always liked Mars," I continued. "Always wanted to see a super nova, too. I think there are planets out there, planets humankind has never seen.

"Planets with orange skies." I thought of Gallifrey.

"Planets with vampires, and werewolves." I thought of Muforam.

"Planets with snake like creatures that can kill you with one touch of the tongue." Vipera popped into my mind.

"But not all danger," I continued, and I knew I was getting ahead of myself. "Beautiful planets, planets with things that fly. Planets where memories are made...parallel worlds, too."

The Doctor nodded, and asked, "Have you ever told anyone this?"

"Some."

"Do they believe you?"

"Some."

"I believe you."

"I know."

Dad smiled slightly, and murmured, "You are a very interesting child, Dawn. I am excited to have you in my class."

"Thanks. Can I...ask you something?"

"Of course," The Doctor smiles. He was using one of his three sides right now: The gentle one. The first was his goofy, crazy self. The second was his grumpy, angry self (which only comes out if someone he loves is in danger). And the third was his gentle self, which I think all of his regenerations had, even if it hardly showed in some.

"You know the disappearing kids? Are you here to investigate them?"

The Doctor hesitates, and I can see the faintest trace of surprise on his face. "You can trust me," I whisper. "Please."

The Doctor gives me a funny look, and then nods. "Yes. I started working here as soon as I had heard of the disappearances."

"Have you discovered anything so far?"

"Not really."

"Then try looking at room three-oh-seven," I chuckled. It was the room I had felt weird energy around with the whole "Soul Stealer" incident. And, from what I had gathered, room three-oh-seven, specifically Mrs. Taylor's science class.

The bell rang, and I was off. But before leaving, I said, "Have a nice day, Mr. Smith! You too, Amy!"

I left the room with a skip in my step. Ho-ly _cow. _

I just met a legend.

I just met the Doctor.

And I just met my father.

This day cannot get any better.

• • •

It was my last period, and I had Mrs. Taylor.

Specifically room three-oh-seven: Science.

I was done with the quiz on the Scientific Method, which she had said wouldn't be graded for Dusk and I (Of course, we _both_ already knew what it was. I'm not the only one who's been reading for the past eight years), but she just wanted to see what we knew.

There was a notebook in my lap, and a pencil in my hand. I was taking notes on the room, because this is where all the disappearances had been taking place. So far, this is what I had written down:

_Mrs. Taylor: Science teacher_

_Appearance: Brown eyes, blond hair, young. Probably late twenties._

_Room 307_

_Appearance: _

I looked around the room, and straight off saw _several _smiley faces. Probably fifty or so. Each one was on a poster, all attached to one long, bulletin board.

_Appearance: Overabundance smiley faces. Very suspicious looking. _

A bit of red caught my eye. It was in the very corner. I turned my head slightly, and saw an angry face instead of a smiley one. My brow furrowed, and I felt myself blink. When my eyes opened again, the face was happy. _Strange, _I thought.

_Appearance: Several smiley faces. Very suspicious looking. One just looked angry, after blink, it was happy._

"All right, everyone," Mrs. Taylor smiled brightly at us. "Have a nice day. You are excused. Except...Angela, would you stay after class please?"

I narrowed my eyes slightly. What would Mrs. Taylor want with Angela?

Despite my curiousness, I left the classroom, with Dusk at my side.

"So," He murmured. We hung around outside the classroom door. "Who was Mr. Smith, then? I don't get treated with a hand squeeze for just seeing a teacher."

I giggled. "A treat, huh?"

"Oh, shut up, and answer the question," Dusk rolled his eyes.

"He was my dad," I whispered.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Woah."

"I know."

"But-"Hey, Dawn! Hi, Jason!" Alice's perky voice interrupted our conversation. I saw her approaching with Will by her side.

"Hey, Alice. Will." I smiled at them.

"We were just wondering if-," Her voice was cut off by the sound of a scream coming from the room next to us. "Angela," I whispered.

I took the sonic screwdriver out from my pocket. "Stay here, guys. But be prepared to run,"

The door unlocked, and I ran in. Mrs. Taylor was looking away from Angela, and I saw a futuristic looking ball of metal, with several arms coming out of it. Some had knives, a few had strange thingy-ma-bobbers attached to them, and others had robotic parts.

"Oh, no you don't!" I yelled, and pointed the sonic screwdriver at it.

The device stopped madly swinging its arms around, and I yelled, "Run!" To Angela. She raced outside, but not before I saw blood trailing down her arm.

"Mrs. Taylor, I highly suggest you leave now," I murmured. "Please."

She looked at me, and as if snapped out of a trance, followed Angela out the door. "Dusk!" I yelled behind my shoulder. "Get them away from here!"

I looked around the room, and noticed all of the smiley faces were now angry.

And to be honest, it freaked me out a little. Because aren't _smiley _faces supposed to be _happy? _It reminded me of the Weeping Angels...angels are supposed to be kind, right? Guess not.

All of the angry faces started to open their mouths, and I could see the electronic devices peeking out of them. I raced out the door, but not before hearing a robot's voice say, "The human race will be upgraded."

**(A/N: OMIGOSH! lol...okay, keep reading. ;P)**

I raced down the hallways of the school, looking for Dusk, Angela, Alice, Will, and Mrs. Taylor. Hopefully, they hadn't split up.

The human race will be upgraded...where had I heard that before?

"Think, think, think, think, think," I whispered to myself.

"Oh, that's _it!_" I cried, and did a face palm. "Cybermen! Oh, no, what are they doing here? They can't be here...not now!"

"Dawn!" A familiar voice behind me yelled. "What's going on?" I whipped around, and saw Dad and Amy.

"Oh, hey Mr. Smith!" I smiled. "Uh...nothing. Everything." I glanced over his shoulder, and saw the "Cybermen" (I'm guessing those are what upgrade people to Cybermen. Wonderful...they float this time) flying toward him. The Doctor and Amy were close to me now.

"Doctor, Amy, if you want to make it out alive, I suggest you run now."

"I-Wait a moment!" Dad cried. Oh crap. I sad "Doctor." At least I didn't say "dad."

"You called me Doctor! Since when have you called me Doctor? How did you...what?"

"Don't worry about that right now!" I yelled. "Unless you want to be turned into a Cyberman, RUN!"

"How do you know about the Cybermen? Am I missing something here?" The Doctor glanced at Amy. She shrugged.

"Oh...just shut _up, _and RUN!"

"Right...Cybermen! RUN!"

"Finally," I whispered, and we raced down the hall.

"Doctor, what are the Cybermen?" Amy asked, and looked over her shoulder. The flying things were getting closer.

"Just picture robots...evil robots," Dad replied. I snorted.

"Hey, not to burst your bubble or anything Doctor, but they're getting _closer!_" Amy cried.

"Don't waste time worrying! Run faster!"

We continue to run down the hallways, when I got an idea. "Hey, Doctor," I said breathlessly. "Do you know what happens when you put two sonic devices together?"

"Yes. It makes a big weo-weo-weo-weo sound, only a lot louder," The Doctor explained, imitating a sonic screwdriver noise. I snorted.

"Then give me your sonic screwdriver!"

"What? How do you know about-hey! That's mine!"

Amy had rolled her eyes and taken the sonic screwdriver out of the Doctor's pocket. She threw it over to me. I pulled out mine, and yelled, "Cover your ears!" Then, I pointed them towards each other, and flicked the switches.

Let's just say...Adipose replay.

All of the big metal balls clattered to the ground. Then, they started to twitch. The Doctor and Amy cautiously uncovered their ears. "Come on," I whispered. "That won't keep them long."

We continue to run down the hallway, when the Doctor says, "Come on! Into the basement!"

"The basement?" Amy and I ask at the same times.

"Yes, the basement. It's where they lock bad kids up until they rot."

Amy and I give him blank looks.

"I'm kidding."

Amy and I look at each other, and burst out laughing.

"What?" The Doctor asks.

"Nothing," We both reply. "Come on, to the basement!"

The Doctor reaches into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver, but then he remembers I still had it. Before he can steal it from back from me, I push him away and murmur, "No way, Doctor. You aren't getting this back...yet."

The Doctor pouts, and whines, "But it's _my _screwdriver! Besides, I could report you to the principal, so I suggest giving it back to me."

I rolled my eyes and unlocked the door. It swung open, and we all raced the down the stairs. Not before shutting and locking the door, of course.

"Doctor, do you _really _think I stick around one place long enough for a report to the principal to _matter_?" I asked him, and we all started walking deeper into the basement. It was dusty down there, with lots of storage boxes. Several random things were on the floor, some were plain old junk, and I recognized others to be vital parts of a possible invention.

"That's another thing I'm curious about," The Doctor replied, and then sneezed. "Who _are _you? How do you know about me? And the sonic screwdriver? And Cybermen? Wait, don't tell me: You're River Song, from a very long time ago. Oh, yes, I'm totally-"I'm not River Song," I laughed.

"Ha! So you _do _know who she is!"

"Crap," I muttered. "Uh...would you believe me if I said my Dad worked at Torchwood?"

"You know about _Torchwood, _too?"

I hung my head in defeat, and sighed. I turned around to face Dad. "Look...I can't tell you. Not now. Because you won't believe me. Just...trust me on that, okay? You have to figure it all out for yourself." I thought back to the letter I had written to myself on Vipera.

_And...don't tell Mum or Dad anything just yet. They start to figure it out eventually. _

"Can you tell me your name?" The Doctor asked.

"Dawn Melody," I replied. "Melody, not Smith. Of course, I don't really _have _a last name."

"What planet are you from?"

Suddenly, I laughed at some memories, and replied, "Spoilers, Doctor."

"Oh, you really _do _know River Song."

Suddenly, a familiar voice cried, "Dawn, look out!"

I turned around just in time to see a knife flying at me, so I ducked. "Oh, no you don't!" I yelled, and pointed the Doctor's sonic screwdriver at it. The metal device dropped to the floor, and I looked around. "Ello?"

Then, hands covered my eyes, and the same voice murmured, "Guess who?" In my ears.

"Dusk!" I cried, and turned around, hugging him.

"Hey!" He laughed, and we broke apart.

"Gosh, I'm glad you're okay! Where are the others?" I questioned.

"We're over here!" Alice's voice said from somewhere nearby.

"How did you figure out to get to the basement?" I asked, and looked over him. He seemed okay: Sure, his hair was a little messed up, but that made him look cuter. _Crap, Dawn, _a voice whispered in my head. _Stop thinking like that! _

"You told me," Dusk replied. "Remember?"

"No," I murmured. "I never told you."

"Probably," The Doctor started. "A case of-"Wibly-wobly timey-wimey," We both said at the same time. He narrowed his eyes. "I like it when people give me blank looks," He growled. "I _look forward _to people giving me blank looks. They're cool."

"Yeah, from me? Don't expect it," I murmured. "So! Doctor, you can help me with this part. Let's see...think, think, think, think...what do we know? What would the Cybermen want on Earth? Well, obviously, world domination. It's what they always want. So what up with the flying thingies?"

"New Cybermen technology," The Doctor suggested.

"I don't think so," I whispered. I lifted up Dusk's hand to my eyes, and in the dim light, saw his scar. "Cracks."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asks.

"Well, see, you know how you're chasing those blue cracks? And how they erase people from time and space?"

The Doctor narrows his eyes, and just as he opens his mouth, I interrupt, "Don't ask questions. Of course you do. Well, there are red cracks. I'm chasing those. They take something from one time and place," I paused, and pointed at a spot on the floor. "And send them into another place and time." I pointed to a different spot on the floor. "So maybe those silver ball thingies came from the red cracks? A different time and place. That's got to be it. So why hide in smiley faces?"

"They're the most innocent things around?" Amy suggests.

"True," The Doctor murmurs. "Good assumption, yes. Thing is, how do we stop them? They're probably everywhere by now, making new Cybermen."

I thought back to the time I used the two sonic screwdrivers against each other. The Doctor seemed to think of it, too, because we both made eye contact in the same second. "A giant sonic screwdriver," The Doctor whispered. I nodded.

"Yes, oh, perfect! Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Brilliant," I nodded.

He paused for a second, and I caved in. "Oh, fine. Give the orders. I may be a genius, but I'm only thirteen, after all."

Dad smiles at me, and says, "All right! Everyone, here, where I can see you!"

Amy, Angela, Alice, Will, Dusk, Mrs. Taylor, and I circle around the Doctor. "Right, you two," Dad points to Angela and Dusk. "You go to the surface, and start taking down all the metal ball thingies you can. Use...oh." The Doctor glances at me.

I smile, and take out our sonic screwdrivers, handing them to Angela and Dusk. "Jason James, you break that screwdriver, and I'll go feed you to the Tenepiscus. Got it?"

Dusk laughs, and replies, "Fine."

"Right," The Doctor continues, and then stops. "Wait, how do you know about the-"Oh, shut up," I giggle. "Keep going."

"So, Amy, you, you, and...you," He points to Amy, Will, Alice, and Mrs. Taylor. "Will stay down here. I need you to rip up all of the electronic stuff you can find. Use everything you can..._except _my bow tie! All right, get to it!"

I snatch the nearest mop I can find. Better to smash stuff with.

Then, I grab Dusk's hand, right before he leaves. "Be careful, m'kay?"

He gazes right into my eyes, and I get lost in those oceans of blue. _Dawn, _I scold myself. _Shut-_the voice of my mind is cut off when Dusk hugs me. I sigh, feeling very tired all of the sudden, and lean into him.

"I will," He whispers as we break apart. "But only if you are." I nod, even though I had a feeling this may not end entirely well.

"By the way," I whispered. "Don't use your healing powers on the people outside. And try not to use them on yourself, either. _Especially _if the Doctor is nearby, and then he'll get a glimpse at your thoughts."

Dusk nodded. "Okay...bye." I smiled sadly, and waved. Dusk started to walk away.

"Wait, Dawn!" He turns around.

"Yeah?"

"That's how you looked when you came to me, talking about the basement. You were carrying a mop."

"Don't suppose I was wearing a fez, too, eh?" I snorted, thinking of the time when the Doctor used a vortex manipulator to talk to Rory. He was wearing a fez and holding a mop.

"Well...kind of. It was actually a bucket."

We both started laughing, and I pushed him away. "Go on...save the world, would ya? Stop teasing me."

I picked up a bucket I had found by the mop, and put it on my head. "Hey Doctor?" I asked.

"Yeah?" The Doctor asks, popping up from under a table, holding a shoe and what looked like a tray of last week's lunch.

"You don't happen to have a vortex manipulator on you, do ya?"

"Here," He smiled, and tossed me one.

"That's lucky," I whispered, and punched in a few buttons. Alice, Will, Dusk, Mrs. Taylor, Angela...here I come.

• • •

"Oof!" I gasped, and fell onto the floor. It was after I had talked with the running kids...and Mrs. Taylor.

Dusk was very surprised to see me. I kind of explained, and then told him to run to the basement.

Now, I was back, and practically ran through the cluttered mess of stuff on the floor over to the Doctor.

"So, what do you want me to do, Doctor?" I asked.

"Tell me who you are."

"Can't do that. Sorry."

"Then are you smart enough to help me build this giant...sonic...thingy?"

I giggled, and replied, "Of course." I bent down and picked up some things he was struggling to carry. "Oh, a blue cable...very nice, yeah. Brilliant, would you look at that? It's a top being used as a generator! Ooh, I like having another genius around! It's quite nice, having someone to talk to who actually understands techno-babble."

"Finally someone who understands!" The Doctor exclaims.

I laugh, and we walk over to a giant pile of electronic things, where we drop off the things we were carrying. "Okay," The Doctor whispers. "Good. Very good. It's good, don't you think?"

I nod. "Yup."

"We should probably start building."

"Yup."

**Dusk's POV-**

Angela and I raced out of the school, and into the parking lot. I was horrified by what we saw there: Thousands of those metal ball things, some of them tearing up humans, others flying around, looking for their next victim.

"Oh my gosh," Angela whispered. "What...how...why?"

"No time for questions," I muttered. "We've got to disarm as many as we can, got it?"

"How?"

"Like this." I pulled out Dawn's sonic screwdriver, flicked the switch, and pointed it at a nearby metal ball. "Just flick the switch. Stay with me, though."

Angela nodded, and whispered, "Do you think we're gonna die?"

"Not if Dawn can help it," I murmured. "She's amazing like that. Always solving these crazy problems...anyway, come on, let's go!"

I started to point the sonic screwdriver at random metal balls. Honestly, the whole scene was very gory...I tried to keep my eyes off of the half way open bodies on the ground, and continue to get the metal things down. Unfortunately, they were only stunned for a matter of minutes, and then they were back up again.

Several robots were on the ground. I didn't think anything of them, even though I didn't know what they were. They all looked the same: Silver-ish blue, shiny, circular eyes (or black circles where eyes _should _be), and sort of human features, like arms, legs...the normal appendages.

Suddenly, Angela's voice shouted, "Dusk, watch out!" I looked up just in time, because a knife was about to fly at my head. I ducked, and then pointed the sonic screwdriver at it, moving out of the way just as it fell to the space I just was. "That was close," I whispered.

Angela and I continued to fight off the metal balls, but most of the stunned was were up and at it again. A little five-year-old kid ran over to me for protection, and I yelled, "Run! Go home!" To him. "Get inside!"

I could see Angela was getting tired. I, on the other hand, was just fine. The adrenaline definitely helped, though.

I slid to the side, just as another knife swung at my head. Pointing the sonic screwdriver at the metal ball above me, it quickly falls to the ground. I let out a long sigh, and look around. Thankfully, most of the people had gotten inside their houses by now, so Angela and I were running through neighborhoods, stopping the metal balls that were trying to get into peoples houses, and then telling them to run. Everywhere we went, however, I kept seeing those robots. What were they doing on the ground? Why had I never seen them before?

I soon found my answer as I watched a human be "transformed."

The metal ball wasn't just killing people, it was taking some of their organs and putting them inside of robot suits. "They must be Cybermen," I whispered breathlessly, stunning another robot.

So why were they all on the ground?

I soon got the answer to this question, also.

Angela, thankfully, was nearby when it happened. The Cybermen started _moving. _Like, standing up, and shooting unfortunate people with guns.

Wonderful.

"Angela," I whispered. We were getting close to the back of an alley. "You don't happen to have a mobile on you, do you?" She nodded frantically, and handed me her mobile.

I searched through her contacts, and found the name I was looking for: Alice. I desperately hoped this would work.

As the phone rang, I was forced to listen to the sound of the unfortunate people outside screaming. Finally, I heard Alice's shaky voice murmur, "Hello?"

"Alice, it's me, Dusk!"

"Oh, good, I thought it was...oh, never mind."

"I need to talk to Dawn. Is she there?"

"She's...uh, busy."

"What do you mean, _busy?_ Tell her it's about the Cybermen."

There was a pause from her end of the phone, and I heard a muffled conversation. Finally, I heard Dawn's voice on the other end.

"Dusk?" She asked breathlessly.

"Hey."

"What do you mean, Cybermen? What's going on?"

"They were in the streets. The metal things were transforming humans into them. Somehow, they all got up at the same time, and they're either taking humans to be upgraded or they... 'delete' them," I explained in a rush.

Dawn paused, and then whispered, "Listen. We're having a problem of sorts down here, and...let's just say it's either me, or the world."

"W-What do you mean?" I asked, growing concerned.

"I might regenerate."

"You can't!"

"I have to."

"Don't. Please."

"I'm sorry."

"Dawn, listen, I-," The other end of the line went dead, and I snapped the phone shut angrily.

"No," I whispered. "She can't."

Dawn said she would change when she regenerated. A lot. And because she was half human, she also said there was a possibility she wouldn't make it out alive.

I wiped a single tear from my face, and Angela asked me, "Now what?"

"We wait," I replied. "She'll pull us out of this...you'll see."

I hope I sound more confident than I feel.

**Oh no! Worst cliffhanger ever, right? So, what's going to happen? Will Dawn regenerate? Why is it 'me or the world?' And what is the destiny of the Doctor's cool bowtie? All will be revealed! And, of course, this time I DO have a sneak peek for you! Woo hoo! It's mini, though. Sorry!**

"No, no no no no no!" The Doctor cried.

"What's wrong?" I asked, tinkering with another piece of our giant invention.

"We don't have enough energy! Apparently, you need the equivalent of one and a half Time Lords to power the invention! Which means we can't use me as the energy source. Darn, it was so perfect...I wouldn't even have had to regenerate, either." The Doctor slammed his hand on the console, and I sighed.

"Listen, Doctor," I whispered. "We have enough energy. Use me."

The Doctor gave me a funny look.

"I'm alien," I murmured.

His eyes widened, and I laughed, "Oh please? Did you really expect I was human?"

"Well, no, but...how do you know you have enough energy? What race are you, anyway?"

"Spoilers, Doctor," I smiled, and continued, "Remember, you've got to trust me. Besides, even if it doesn't work, we've got to try, right?"

"You could die."

"So could you."

"I regenerate."

"You still change."

"You could _die!_"

"Does it _matter?_" I asked him. "Tell me that, Doctor. Does it matter if I die? Because if it meant saving the whole world, than isn't it worth it? Who wants to die by becoming a Cyberman? Answer me that, Doctor. Who?"

The Doctor didn't reply for a few seconds. Finally, he growled, "You'll _die._"

"I know."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

The Doctor sighed, and finally whispered, "Fine." Then, we both began making modifications to the machine so that it could convert his energy...and now mine.

**OHMIGOSH! I bet you all hate me right now. :)**

**So, question: What's been your favorite chapter so far? REVIEW!**


	16. Chapter 15: Sonic Boom

**Okay, before we begin, I just wanted to explain that I changed a BUNCH from the sneak peek, but it's basically the same concept. Anyway, I should let you read, because that was an evil cliffhanger last time! ;) **

**And yes, Thygreenthing, I kind of used your nickname for the title...ha ha ha. :D I didn't know what else to call it!**

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 15: Sonic boom**

**Dawn's POV-**

I grimaced, and tinkered around with a few more controls, holding a wrench in one of my hands. The Doctor and I were finishing the machine, while Mrs. Taylor, Alice, Will, and Amy continued to bring us a few finishing touches.

It looked _crazy, _but most likely, the machine would work. It kind of reminded me of the way a TARDIS console looked. The concept was the same: A console, and then a big, tall, blue energy converter in the middle. There was a big computer screen on one panel that gave the Doctor and I some energy readings. Basically, it was the inside parts of a sonic screwdriver. The TARDIS's little brother! Or...big, in this case, I suppose.

I popped up from under the console to see the Doctor fiddling with some controls. "So," I breathlessly walked over to him. "How's it going?"

"Good," Dad replied. "I'm just have to concentrate the power over here, and then _boom!_ As soon as the energy hits, a giant sonic wave will be sent through the city, destroying all the metal...ball...thingies, before they can change anyone into a Cyberman."

I nodded. "What _are _we using as an energy source, exactly?"

"Me."

"Oh, right...I forgot, in extreme cases, that the venitle fluid in a Time Lord's blood can be used as power for a machine. Nice thinking. But...isn't that going to hurt?"

"Maybe...probably...yeah. But I've calculated that I'll have just enough blood left after the transfusion to live. Probably the equivalent in a human's body. Then, I can regain the blood quickly because I-but you already know about the two hearts thing, don't you?"

I smiled sheepishly, and nodded. He continued to fiddle with the energy readings screen, when I heard him suddenly yell, "Oh, no no no no no no no!" I glanced over at him.

"What's wrong?"

"We don't have enough energy! Apparently, you need the equivalent of one full Time Lord's venitle fluid to power the invention! Which means we can't use me as the energy source...unless I want to regenerate, but I don't, so we'll have to find an alternative. Darn, it was so perfect...I wouldn't even have had to regenerate, either." The Doctor slammed his hand on the console, and I sighed.

"Listen, Doctor," I whispered. "We have enough energy. Use me."

The Doctor gave me a funny look.

"Just...do it. Please. I'm sure there's some type of energy in my blood that can help," I explained. Little did he know, we probably had enough for the equivalent of one and a _half _Time Lords.

The Doctor's forehead creased, and he asked, "What race are you, anyway?"

"Spoilers, Doctor," I smiled, and continued, "Remember, you've got to trust me. Besides, even if it doesn't work, we've got to try, right?"

"You could die."

"So could you."

"I regenerate."

"You still change."

"You could _die!_"

"Does it _matter?_" I yelled. Then, I forced my voice to grow calm. Well...scary calm, at least. "Tell me that, Doctor. Does it matter if I die? Because if it meant saving the whole world, than isn't it worth it? Who wants to die by becoming a Cyberman? Answer me that, Doctor. Who?"

The Doctor didn't reply for a few seconds. Finally, he growled, "You'll _die._"

"I know."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

The Doctor sighed, and finally whispered, "Fine." Then, we both began making modifications to the machine so that it could convert his energy...and now mine.

Suddenly, I heard a phone ring. It was Alice's. She gave me a pleading look, and I giggled. "Oh, pick it up."

She smiled, and then took the phone out of her pocket. "Hello?" She asked, and paused. "Oh, good, I thought it was...oh, never mind."

Another pause.

"She's...uh, busy." Alice glanced at me, and I knew it must be Dusk or Angela.

Yet another pause.

Alice looked over at me, and murmured, "Dusk says it's about the Cybermen."

My eyebrows rose, and I tried to contain my panic. They weren't supposed to come this early!

Reasoning with myself, I finally decided I'd have to tell Dusk sometime. So I guess that sometime is now.

"Dusk?" I asked breathlessly.

"Hey."

"What do you mean, Cybermen? What's going on?"

"They were in the streets. The metal things were transforming humans into them. Somehow, they all got up at the same time, and they're either taking humans to be upgraded or they... 'delete' them," he explained in a rush.

I paused, and then whispered, "Listen. We're having a problem of sorts down here, and...let's just say it's either me, or the world."

"W-What do you mean?" Dusk asked, and I could hear the surprise in his voice.

"I might regenerate."

"You can't!"

"I have to." My heart ripped a little with each word.

"Don't. Please."

"I'm sorry." A tear fell down my cheek. "I...I'm so sorry." I knew the words weren't what I wanted to say. But I didn't really have the guts to say...them. I hoped Dusk already knew.

"Dawn, listen, I-," I couldn't listen anymore, and shut the phone. Another tear slid down my cheek, and I wiped it away.

"Here," I whispered, handing the phone to Alice. "Look after him if...if I don't make it, okay?"

Alice nodded. "I will."

"Dawn!" The Doctor called to me. I turned around to face him. "Ready?"

I nodded, even though every fiber of my being told me to run away. "Well then," Dad murmured. "Let's hope this works."

I walk over to the machine, and put a pair of old headphones on my head. We had changed them so they manipulated brainwaves, and made the blood travel up to our hands, which were to be placed on this electrical glass ball thing, which converted the venitle fluid into energy. I hoped the Doctor wouldn't realize that part of the venitle fluid was _mine. _

"Ready?"

I nodded, unable to speak. He gave me a smile, and murmured, "It's been great, and all...working with you."

I nodded again. Finally, he put a pair of headphones on, and flicked the switch.

Let's just say this...I'm _never _going to put on a pair of headphones again.

**Dusk's POV-**

A Cyberman was approaching Angela and I. We were trapped at the end of the alley.

Wonderful. So this is how it all ends. Dawn dies (most likely), I die, and Angela dies. The world is left in the hands of the Doctor, who will most likely save it somehow, but at a cost.

A very high cost, if we're talking about _her. _

"You will be upgraded, or be deleted," The Cyberman told us stiffly.

I glanced at Angela, and, surprisingly, didn't see any fear on her face, but pure determination, and hate.

I spoke on both of our behalf's: "We'd rather _die _than become one of you!"

"So...be...it."

I took one final breath, and Angela grabbed my hand. I squeezed hers tightly, and the Cyberman's gun rose.

And then...just when it seemed like everything would end, a miracle happened.

A miracle that would most likely make me go deaf, but still. A miracle.

It was the sound of Dawn's sonic screwdriver, only higher pitched, and much, _much _louder. The Cyberman clattered to the ground. I covered my ears with my hands, and saw Angela quickly do the same.

And just like _that, _the sound was gone. Angela and I cautiously uncovered our ears, and I looked around. Not a single thing stirred, and the only noise was the wind.

Then I heard screams of joy, relief, and happiness. I smiled brightly at Angela, and she returned the gesture. But then I realized what it must mean.

Dawn was dead. Or not herself. Not _my _Dawn.

For a few seconds, I was frozen in time. Then, it hit me. And I was running.

_Sprinting, _actually. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and I looked over my shoulder to see Angela following, long chestnut hair flying behind her.

We eventually burst into the basement, and I looked around.

First things first, there was a huge machine in the middle of the room that sort of looked like a TARDIS. Alice, Will, and Mrs. Taylor were all huddled in a corner, looking shocked. Amy was by the Doctor, supporting him while he leaned against the console. Finally, I found Dawn.

She was lying on the ground, and I could see her eyes were closed. Fear pulses through my veins. I raced up to her.

"Dawn," I whispered. "Dawn, can you hear me? Please? Just...reply, please!"

She didn't move.

"Dawn," I whispered, and shook her a little. I placed a finger on her wrist, and felt a very, _very _weak pulse. A sigh of relief escaped. But why wasn't she waking up?

"Oh, of course!" I whispered, and leaned down to listen to her hearts.

Heart one: _Thump-thump, thump-thump. _

Heart two: Silence.

I groaned, realizing I hadn't read a book on CPR. So, I did the alterative. Something very dangerous to do here, according to Dawn.

I pulled all of my emotions together, and started to focus very hard on healing her. Was it possible for me to restart a heart?

Suddenly, something touched my arm, and a barely audible voice whispered, "Don't even think about it, Jason James."

I looked down to see Dawn wearing a _tiny _smile on her face. Another sigh of relief escaped my lips. "You're okay."

"For now."

"What do you mean?"

She didn't reply. I realized how frail she looked.

"Dawn, answer me," I murmured. "What do you mean?"

"I don't...have...enough venitle fluid...left to regenerate," She whispered, her breath coming out in short, rapid gasps.

"Don't die," I whispered. "Not now. Please."

"I'm sorry." I saw her shudder slightly

"No," I murmured. "You can't be...dead. Please no."

"Get me...to the...TARDIS," She whispered, and her head lolled to the side. "We might have...a chance."

"I will," I murmured. "I'll do everything it takes."

She began to talk again. "I...I..." But before she could finish the sentence, Dawn was knocked out cold once more.

The adrenaline, dread, and shock running through me made it easier to pick her up. Will and Alice looked at me, and silently came over to help. I murmured a small thank you, and we started quickly toward the TARDIS.

• • •

We lay Dawn down carefully on the console room's floor. Her breathing was becoming shallow, and I could see she was in pain. Once and a while, she would whimper.

I decided to disobey her rule. I just couldn't stand seeing her in so much pain.

Gathering all of my emotions together, I ran a glowing hand across and just a little above her body. She sighed, and I heard her thoughts, just barely. They were very, _very _weak.

_Nitero, be a link, would you? _

My eyes grew wide. What did she mean by 'be a link?'

I soon found the answer.

_Dusk, _a familiar voice whispered inside my head. It was Nitero.

_What's wrong with her? _I asked.

_Her venitle fluid is on a very low level, which is making it difficult for her to regenerate. The other nanogenes are trying to restore it, but..._

_But what? _I questioned.

_It's complex, _Nitero's gentle voice explained. _Venitle fluid is a very powerful liquid, and not easily made. Even nanogenes aren't capable of forming it from compounds in the Time Lord body._

_So there's no hope then? _

_Not exactly, _Nitero began. _As long as we can keep the rest of her levels stable, her body may have enough time to prepare enough venitle fluid for the regeneration process. _

_So she _will _regenerate? _

_We hope. _

_How long will it take for her to prepare enough venitle fluid? _I asked.

_About half an hour, _Nitero replied. _But you will have to be very careful not to heal anyone else with us. She'll most likely only be able to go five minutes without dying if we leave her. I can command the other nanogenes to stay if you leave, but if you say otherwise, we must obey._

I nodded. _Okay. _

Nitero flew back into Dawn's body. I wondered how long it would take for Dawn to create enough venitle fluid. Nitero said half an hour, but anything could happen, right?

"So," Alice asked from behind me. I turned around, and looked at her and Will.

"What's going on? Will she..."

"Probably not," I replied. I didn't have to know the end of the sentence to make out what she was implying. "I just have to wait half an hour before she regenerates."

Alice and Will give me blank looks. Dawn must have not told them!

"Oh...right," I started. "See, Time Lord and Ladies- that's Dawn's race, by the way- kind of have this way of cheating death. When they're in trouble, or dying, or whatever, they can change their face, body, personality...everything. Twelve times, actually. Dawn didn't know how her regeneration would turn out, though, because she's half human."

"So...she's gonna change her face?" Alice asked, and her face drained of its usual pink color.

I nodded.

"And that's definite, right? She won't stay the same? There's no hope now?"

I hesitated, and then replied, "I think so. But there's always the possibility- and this is Dawn's theory, not mine- that because she's half human, she won't change her face or personality. Kind of like having twelve lives, you know?"

Alice nods. "Oh...kay."

"I think it's awesome," Will smiles. "Not the dying part, I mean, but that she can just change herself like that. It's pretty cool."

Alice slaps his shoulder lightly. "Oh, shut up, would you?"

Suddenly, the TARDIS lurches, and I hear a familiar _fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh _noise. Alice screams, and lands on the floor, while Will, grabs hold of the console and tries to steady himself.

_Sweetie, _I think. _What's going on?_

No reply from the TARDIS.

_Answer me! What's going on?_

The three words that she answered with chilled me to the bone:

_I'm not sure. _

**Well that can't be good...can it?**

**Hm, so the Alice and Will trilogy continues. :) **

**And what about Dawn? What's going to happen to her?**

**Where in the world are they going?**

**And what's going to happen there?**

**And, of course, most important...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**ARE GIANT NACHOS ATTACKING?**

**All of these questions, and more, will be answered next chapter... ;)**

**But for now...a sneak peek. :D**

"Dusk, you had better see this," Alice whispers.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Just look," She murmurs, and when I see the fear on her face, my head immediately snaps to the window.

It looked like a giant snowflake. So beautiful, so sparkly, so...

_Cold. _A voice whispered in my head. It was Penny's.

_It's cold. And terrifying. And beautiful. _

"No...it can't be!" I whisper.

"But it is," Penny's voice from behind me said. "I just got back from speaking with Sandy. She was right."

"About what?" I asked, but couldn't tear my eyes away from the ice star. It was so...mysterious. And beautiful. And a little scary.

"The end of this ship will be in fifty-three minutes," Penny whispers.

My blood turned to ice, and I blinked. Simply...blinked.

A clock ticked in the background, but I could barely hear it.

Because I knew trouble was coming.

Dawn _still _wasn't waking up.

And I had a feeling she wasn't going to anytime soon.

**I bet this is what you're thinking/saying:**

**Oh...my...gosh. **

**Lol...review! :D**


	17. Chapter 16: Fiftythree

**Alright, who's excited to read this chapter? Well guess what? I'M EXCITED TO WRITE IT! Woo hoo! :D**

**Hope you like this adventure. I think it's really quite cool. It shows how amazing companions can be, even without the Doctor -or, in this case-Dawn Melody. **

**Another thing: I changed the sneak peek. Again. :P And I don't like the part where it came in. It's quite rough. :(**

**By the way, I have a goal this chapter: Using personifications! See if you can find any! ;)**

**Oh yes...on my final note, **_**TAKE CAREFUL NOTE OF THE TITLE!**_** It will make this chapter so much more fun for you... ;P**

**Anyway, ENJOY!**

**P.S. This Chapter is dedicated to all of my faithful reviewers! You guys are awesome! Thanks for motivating me! :D**

**Chapter 16: Fifty-three**

**Dusk's POV-**

The TARDIS stopped lurching and jolting abruptly. I let out a long sigh.

Will helped Alice off of the floor, and she asked me, "What just happened?"

"I don't know," I whispered. Suddenly, the TARDIS's lights flickered off. I felt goose bumps creep up my arms.

"Dusk," Alice whimpered. In the dim light, I saw Will wrap his arms around Alice in a comforting hug. It reminded me of Dawn, and my gaze flickered down to where she was on the floor.

Or, at least, where she was _supposed _to be. Dawn was gone.

"Oh no," I whispered. "Where is she?" Will and Alice heard me, and looked down at where Dawn had been.

They gave me blank looks, and I murmured, "Come on, we've got to look around. I don't know where she could've gone, though."

I raced down the TARDIS stairs, and looked around. It was very hard to see, and I realized I still had Dawn's sonic screwdriver. Pulling it out of my pocket, I turned it on, and used it as a light.

Some parts of the TARDIS were smoking, and a shudder violently shook me. I realized it was becoming colder and colder, because I could see my breath.

I walked around slowly, and tried to find Dawn. Where could she have gone? Just a few seconds ago, she was on the floor, dying.

Suddenly, I tripped on something. Looking down, I saw a pair of shoes sticking out from under the lower console. I crouched down further, and saw Dawn tinkering around with some controls.

"What the _heck, _Dawn!" I yelled in an angry whisper. For some reason, I felt the need to stay quiet. She heard my voice, and flipped around on her stomach to face me.

She actually looked quite funny, and I had to contain a small chuckle. Her hair was sticking out all over the place, and she had an expression on her face that changed from puzzlement, to pain, to realization. Her head was just barely poking out from under the lower console, and her eyes had a mischievous twinkle in them.

"Right," Dawn whispered. "Oh, what was I doing...right, looking at what was wrong with Sweetie..."

She looked up, and I saw several cords had split in half, or were fraying.

"Oh, who are you, again?" She asked suddenly.

I suspiciously narrowed my eyes. "Uh, Jason?" I replied, like it was a question.

"Oh, right! Of course you're Jason. Wait, you _are _Jason! Ah, it's all coming back now...right, right, right, the Cybermen, the Doctor, all that-oof." I saw her hand flash to her rib cage, and a pained expression crossed her face.

"Dusk," She whispered. "Something's not right. It's not going correctly. I...I..." She shook her head, and gasped in pain. A groan escaped her mouth.

"What's wrong?" I asked, growing concerned.

"I don't know," She whispered. She twitched...twitched again, gasped in pain. "Oh, sorry, don't believe I caught your name. Who are you? What are you doing on my TARDIS? Sorry, it's having some serious problems right now..." The other, weirder Dawn was back.

"I'm Jason," I murmured. "Remember?"

"Sorry, have we met?" She asked. Twitched. Gasped in pain. "Oh, gosh, this is killing me," she whispered, and then chuckled. "Literally."

I gave her a sympathetic look, and her face lit up. "Oh, right. You're going to need...blankets! They're um, in the closet, in my room. Just look in the big blanket section."

"There you are!" I heard Alice cry. She and Will raced over. "Is she okay?"

Another twitch. Gasp in pain. "Oh, who are you? What are you all doing on my TARDIS? And, gosh, isn't it freezing in here?"

Will glanced at me, and I shrugged.

Dawn shook herself, and whispered, "S-Sorry. I'm doing the best I can."

"What's even _happening?_" Alice asked.

"See, the TARDIS and I have this special connection," Dawn explained. Twitched. Gasps in pain. _Again. _"Wait, answer my question, first! Who-ugh, sorry, again. Anyway, Sweetie gave me most of her energy so I could help you. That's why she lost control, landed here. Now I know what's going to happen. Most Time Lords can see people's individual time lines, but I'm a human, so unfortunately, I didn't gain that ability. Anyway, because Sweetie gave me most of her energy, I gained the ability, and...it's hard to explain."

"But you're dying," I murmured. "You need more venitle fluid to regenerate."

"Yes," Dawn nodded. "Yes I do. I can still feel the nanogenes inside of me." She shuddered violently. "It's weird. Dusk, it hurts!" She whimpered out the last part, and I remembered that not only is Dawn a genius, my best friend, and brilliant, but she's also only thirteen, and even if she is all of those amazing things, thirteen year olds can only handle pain as well as anyone else can.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"Right, right, what to-," Twitch. "What to do? What to do about what? I-," She shook her head, and whispered, "Go out there. We're on a spaceship. Get me to a medic, or something."

"So if you can see timelines..." Will started. "What's going to happen to you?"

"I-I don't know," She replied. "It's clouded. I'm still half human, even if I've got some Sweetie in me."

"But why are you forgetting us and stuff like that?" Alice asks.

"It's...complicated. Something having to do with the fact that I'm half human, and Sweetie's inside me, and...Oi, what are you doing here?"

I shook my head. "Dawn," I simply whispered, and saw pain flash through her eyes. Her eyelids drooped, and she whispered, "Be careful...Alice, Will...Dusk. Don't forget...the blankets." A small smile was on her lips, and she swiftly fell back down to the floor.

Alice, Will, and I exchanged a glance, and I murmured, "Well...you heard her. Let's gather what we know. We're on a ship, apparently...on the TARDIS, which just gave Dawn most of its energy, so Sweetie won't be any help. We need blankets for some reason, maybe because it's so cold. And we have to get Dawn to a hospital...or whatever there is here."

Alice and Will nod, and then Will smiles brightly. "You know, man," he says. "I know we're in a tense and dangerous situation and all, but this is kind of fun."

I smiled, and replied, "Welcome to my life."

• • •

I propped Dawn's head up with my hand, and Alice's huge stack of blankets brushed against my arm. Will was also carrying a large tower of blankets.

I took in our surroundings: We had come out of the TARDIS, and it appeared that we were in a large, open area, with hallways and doors leading to rooms. It looked like a lodge, with a lobby area in the middle, but no one was out and about. The hallways were on several floors, and there was a golden banister about six feet from the door, so it created a small walkway. Overall, the room looked very much like a large futuristic hotel, only with no activity.

I looked around, and flinched when I heard a female's voice yell from behind Alice, Will, and I, "Oi! Didn't you hear the alarm? Everyone's been quarantined until we reach Salasburgia!"

Alice, Will, and I whipped around to face the girl. She was probably about seventeen. Her blond hair was dead straight, and went down to her shoulders. She was only about three feet away, so I could see her eyes were _red_. The girl was wearing a black t-shirt with white stripes, and a white skirt that went down to her knees. Her small hands were gripping a clipboard, and I saw a silver pencil tucked in the little space between her ear and skin.

"Hey, wait a second," She whispered. "You don't look familiar. How did you get here? I know everyone on this ship! And that means about three thousand!"

I glanced at Alice and Will, which gave them the signal to keep their mouths shut. "We're travelers," I explained. "We have our own ship...but it sort of broke, so we were wondering if maybe you could give us a place to stay while it gets repaired...?"

The girl purses her lips, and then shrugs. "I guess...but my father- wait! Ohmigosh!" She runs up to me, and places a finger on Dawn's cheek. "That...no...it can't be...don't tell me it's reached the outside word, too!"

"What?" Alice asks.

"The Red Snake disease," The girl whispers, as if keeping her voice quiet will help the sickness go away.

The words grip my throat, and I struggle to swallow. "The...Red Snake disease?" I glanced down at the scar on my hand, and shuddered.

The girl nods. "Yeah...your friend has it," She whispers. "We need to get her to the hospital bay."

I nod.

"She won't get much assistance yet," The girl explains. "We have our own patients we need to take care of. But our medics will do the best they can. I'm Penny, by the way. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Penny smiles at Will, Alice, and I, and then murmurs, "Well, come on then. We should get her to the hospital bay." We begin walking, and she adds, "And...I hope you don't mind me asking, but what's up with the blankets?"

"That's what I was wondering, too," Will whispers.

"Uh, we just...thought we would bring them just in case," I explained. "She's been getting really cold, you know."

Penny nods, and then pushes a wide, silver door open, and holds it for us. I walk inside, while Alice and Will follow.

Inside, it looks like a modern hospital...almost.

First of all, all of the beds are silver. There are several nurses running around, checking patients who look terrible. Futuristic-looking computers stand by each bed, and some medications rest by the keyboard of each of them.

Probably the strangest thing was how most of the patients were aliens. Some were green, others were purple, and others were just downright strange looking. Just a few looked human.

"Welcome to the STEK Hospital Bay," Penny says proudly, flourishing one of her arms, because the other one is holding the clipboard.. "We have some of the best technology in the universe, so our patients get the best care. Not to mention amazing nurses, too."

I looked at the nurses, and almost gasped out loud when I realized they had cat-like faces. Looking over at Alice and Will, I saw an amazed expression on Alice's face, and a dude-this-is-awesome expression on Will's face.

"Your friend will be here," Penny continues to explain, and I set Dawn down on the bed she pointed to. "I'll set you up with a room, too. The closest planet we're going to is Salasburgia, and you're in luck, because it's only three hours away. That way, you'll be able to repair your ship there. Where is it, anyway?"

"It's a small ship. We parked it in the lobby," I explained. "Uh...bigger on the inside."

Penny nods. "Uh huh, I've heard of those. I'd like to see one someday."

She takes a device out of her pocket that looks somewhat like a mobile, presses a button, and says into it: "We've got a new patient on floor 1A. The new patient has arrived with three others. Their ship has broken down, and they are requesting assistance until we arrive at Salasburgia."

I heard a faint voice reply into the receiver, and decided it must be some type of walkie-talkie. "Okay," Penny nods. "I'll give them room fifty-three." Another faint reply. "Great. Thanks, father."

Penny puts the device away, and turns back toward Alice, Will, and me. "So," she starts. "Your friend will be okay...we hope. We've been able to help the Red Snake poisoning before, but it's lethal to weak people."

I knew it wasn't _really _Red Snake poisoning. She was actually just regenerating...

Right?

"Anyway, if you'll come with me, I'll show you to your room."

• • •

**Alice's POV-**

The only noise in the room was a clock ticking. And, of course, Will's constant remarks about the great food here.

I was sitting in our room with him. Dusk was in the Hospital Bay. He said he wanted to stay by Dawn, just in case she changed or something. It had been about fifteen minutes since he left.

This whole alien thing was still sinking in. It was _crazy. _I glanced over at Will, who was scarfing down some waffles. "Why are you eating at a time like this?" I asked, and sniffled a little. The room looked exactly like a modern hotel room, and I was sitting on the edge of one of the beds.

"What do you mean?" Will asks.

I frown. Boys can be so stupid sometimes.

"Dawn is _dying, _we are on a _spaceship_ about four hundred years in the

future, and you are eating _waffles!_" I cry.

"Whoa, Alice, calm down," Will whispers, and puts and arm around my shoulders. I put my head on his shoulder. "What's _really _wrong?"

"I'm scared," I whisper.

"You don't need to be scared," Will chuckles. "Not as long as I'm here. I'll protect you."

"You mean it?" I ask, looking up into his eyes. He nods.

Suddenly, there's a knock on my door, and I jump. "Come in!" I say.

Penny walks inside. "Hi," she smiles softly at us, and it reminds me of Angela. A pang of homesickness pierces my heart. Will I ever get to see her again?

"I've been talking to your friend, Dusk," Penny begins. "He said I should see if you wanted to take a look at the view from the ship. It's lovely, you know. We're actually flying by a series of super novas right now."

I look at Will, and see the sparkle in his eye. "Sure," I shrug, and his arm slides off of my shoulder. We follow her out the door.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," Will starts. "But...why are your eyes red?"

"Oh," Penny laughs. "I suppose I forgot to tell you. I'm part elf," She explains, and reveals her pointy ears. My eyes widen, and she smiles. "My sister, Sandy, is a future-seeking elf. She can see what's going to happen in the future...sometimes."

I nod, listening intently as she explains about STEK (which apparently stands for Space Traveling Etani Kelph. Etani Kelph, in elf language, means ship of the stars), and the aliens that inhabit it. All of them have _some_ humany-ness in their blood, and are traveling on the ship to Salasburgia, their new home, as Earth is becoming overpopulated.

Penny eventually leads us to a small door, and opens it. She holds it open as Will and I walk inside.

The room kind of reminds me of the fancy area my mum would always have conferences in with her business. There really weren't any walls, just windows. With space outside...it was beautiful.

There were four light blue chairs in a square in the middle of the room that looked very comfortable. Penny motioned us over to sit, and started to talk more about STEK.

And surprisingly...

I found myself enjoying this whole adventure.

And the one before this.

And the one before that.

• • •

**Dusk's POV-**

"How is she doing?" A soft voice said from behind me.

I turned my head to see Penny, and replied, "Not any worse. Not any better, though, either."

"I'm sorry," Penny whispers, and lays a hand on my shoulder. "She's so young...how old are you lot, anyway?"

"Old enough," I replied stiffly. My gaze didn't leave Dawn's face. I was waiting for it to change shape, for the color of her hair to change, or the color of her eyes. Those amazing green eyes that are so cool.

"My sister says we may pass an ice star," Penny smiles. "They're like giant snowflakes. It's cold. And terrifying. And beautiful."

I nod, not entirely paying attention. I was worried about Dawn. It had already beena half hour. Why hadn't she changed yet? I didn't want to risk taking Nitero out of her to ask, but I felt helpless just sitting here.

"She'll be okay," Penny whispers, as if reading my thoughts. "Don't worry. We haven't had a death from Red Snake poisoning yet."

"_Yet,_" I muttered, but knew I wasn't doing any good. Of course Dawn would be okay. The venitle fluid was just taking longer to restore.

Penny frowns, and murmurs, "Do you think your friends would like to see the view outside? What are their names...Alice and Will, right?"

I nod. "They'd like that." I knew Penny just wanted to leave.

"Okay, if you need us, we'll be in the conference room. If you want directions, just pick up a wall phone and dial fifty-three."

I nod again, and hear the door shut as Penny leaves. There weren't many other nurses in the hospital bay, so Dawn and I were basically alone, because the other patients were out cold.

Like her, of course.

I wondered if she could still hear, though.

Deciding to test that question, I bent down until my mouth was by her ear, and murmured, "Can you hear me?"

Nothing happened. She stayed the same. Actually, she looked _worse. _Her face was becoming paler, and she was sweating profusely.

I squeezed her hand, and whispered, "Don't worry. You'll be okay."

I hope I sounded more confident than I felt.

My eyes fluttered open. I realized I had fallen asleep in the chair next to Dawn's bed. I checked the time on the computer next to me.

1:53

Good. It's only been twenty minutes.

I glanced over at Dawn, noticing her condition hadn't changed. I was becoming very nervous. Would she _ever _wake up?

I decided to go to the conference room where Penny, Alice, and Will were talking. I ignored the fact that I could have used directions from the computer, and left the hospital bay.

• • •

Eventually, I found the conference room.

Penny and Will had been talking, while Alice was looking at a super nova out the window. I sat down in a chair across from Will.

"Hey," He smiles. "How's Dawn?"

"Not any better," I shrugged. "But she'll be fine." _I hope. _

"That's good!" Penny nods.

"Yeah," I murmur. "Let's just hope nothing bad happens before she wakes up. If anyone can solve alien problems, it's her." I smile, trying to lighten the atmosphere a little. Will chuckles, and I even hear a small laugh from the direction Alice was standing in.

"You know, I'm a little worried about that," Penny murmurs. "I talked with my sister, Sandy. She said there was going to be trouble. Big trouble. But no one knows what. I've talked to my father, the captain, about it, but he says it's nothing to worry about. That Sandy's visions are false. But I know better. She is telling the truth."

I purse my lips. Darn. Just when I thought we could get in, have Dawn regenerate, and get out. Now there's going to be more trouble?

...Cool.

"I hope we don't run into an ice star," Penny mumbles. "I was excited about it before, but...they can be dangerous if you get to close to them. They pull you into their orbit, so you get closer and closer, and the ship becomes colder and colder. Few escape once they're pulled in. Or so legend says."

I listen intently. "But my father will steer us clear," Penny smiles. "He's the best pilot ever. Besides, there haven't been any reports on ice stars nearby. We would know if one was coming. So...tell me about yourselves. Where are you from?"

"Uh...long story," I began. "We're travelers. Dawn usually flies the ship, but she became sick, so we had to stop here."

"What do you do?" Penny asks.

"Help people who are in trouble," I shrug.

"Hey, that's cool!" Penny exclaims. "I'd love to travel the world...well, I guess you could say I'm living the dream. We've been on this ship for fifty-three days straight."

"Wow," Will murmurs. "That's crazy."

"Dusk, you had better see this," Alice suddenly whispers.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Just look," She murmurs, and when I see the fear on her face, my head immediately snaps to the window.

It looked like a giant snowflake. So beautiful, so sparkly, so...

_Cold. _A voice whispered in my head. It was Penny's.

_It's cold. And terrifying. And beautiful. _

"But that looks like an ice star!" I whisper.

"It is," Penny's voice from behind me said. "Oh no, Sandy was right!" A tear falls down her face.

"About what?" I asked, but couldn't tear my eyes away from the ice star. It was so...mysterious. And beautiful. And a little scary.

"The end of this ship will be in fifty-three minutes," Penny whispers. "We're in its orbit."

My blood turned to ice, and I blinked. Simply...blinked.

A clock ticked in the background, but I could barely hear it.

Because I knew trouble was coming.

Dawn _still _wasn't waking up.

And I had a feeling she wasn't going to anytime soon.

**You guys should love me! I've now given you two chapters in less than twenty-four hours! Woo hoo!**

**Sorry, I don't like this chapter much...but the adventure is cool! :)**

**My favorite part of it is the beginning, because it's kind of funny. Oh, and the ending will be awesome! Anyway, here's the sneak peek!**

I ran around, checking each person who was in the lobby. Several families were gathered together, huddling in the blankets Alice, Will, and I had brought.

"How's it going?" Penny asks when I reach her.

"Not good," I reply. "There's something more than an ice star that's sabotaging this ship. Tell me, do you know what started the Red Snake poisoning?"

"N-No," Penny whispers. "We weren't able to trace it."

"That's what I thought," I nodded, and slowly rotated. "How high do you keep this ship's temperature, on average?"

"Sixty degrees," Penny replies.

"That's too low," I whispered. "There's something on this ship that thrives off of the coldness. It's what started the disease."

"But where did it come from?"

"Why do you call it Red Snake Poison?" I ignore her question.

"The first person who was infected it was standing by a red snake," Penny explains. "This thing in the wall that looks like a snake. We've investigated it, but decided it was harmless. Why, is something the matter with it?"

"Oh, that thing is anything _but _harmless. Show me, now."

Penny nods, and I run after her as she leaves.

**Oh boy... :D**

**Review, please!**


	18. Chapter 17: Infection

**Oh yay! Another chapter! :P**

**Okay, I'm going to see if I can get three chapters done in one weekend! :D Hopefully, I can do it! **

**Everyone who is reading this story is AMAZING! You guys are all great!**

**Wow, we're already on seventeen! **Eyes bulge out of head** O.O**

**And, oh yeah, at the part where they're talking about temperature, excuse my US farenheightyness. :) I think you guys use Celsius, right? So let's just say it's cold enough to snow. :P  
**

**Anyway, ENJOY!**

**Chapter 17: Infection**

**Dusk's POV-**

"Well, at least we know what the blankets are for now," Will mutters as he and I race through the crowd of people huddled in the lobby.

After we had seen the ice star, Penny had immediately rushed to her father to tell him, but he already become sick with the Red Snake poisoning, and he couldn't fly the ship, which is why we drifted into the ice star's orbit.

Penny immediately took over, and told everyone to gather in the "lobby." It was getting colder and colder. Penny had told me earlier it was already forty degrees on the ship, and the heating system was down.

Will and I were currently handing blankets to the freezing families, and my brain was spinning. I wondered how we would get out of this one.

And then it dawned on me: Maybe we _wouldn't _get out of this one?

But I kept my thoughts positive, and continued to work out possible solutions.

One: Try to get the TARDIS working again. Dawn said its protective shields could survive almost anything.

Two: Dawn regenerates (finally), and she fixes the whole problem in her weird, amazing ways.

Three: Try to contact other ships that may be strong enough to pull us out of orbit.

And then, there's always option four: Freeze to death.

So far, I'm leaning toward option one, two, and three. Those will probably work the best for me.

Eventually, we reached Penny, and I asked, "How much longer do we have until the temperature gets too cold?"

Penny checked the watch on her wrist, and replied, "Forty-five minutes. You know, I was thinking...it's only forty degrees, and the heating shouldn't be down. The engine is actually supposed to go first in a situation like this. That's what they told me in STEK flight training."

"I was thinking about that too, actually," Will murmurs.

"Wow, you were thinking? What a surprise!" I smirk.

Will shoves me, but he's laughing, so I know we're still friends.

"Well, do you want us to check it out?" I ask. Penny nods.

"Yeah, just check out the heating system. It's by the hospital bay," Penny explains.

Will and I stat running toward the hospital bay, and I decide to check on Dawn if we're heading that way. "Keep going," I tell him. "I'll catch up with you in a minute." He nods, and I enter the hospital bay.

There are only a few nurses inside, and I look over at Dawn's bed.

She actually looked a little bit better. I could see some color returning to her cheeks, she wasn't sweating as much, and she looked a little more at peace than before. It was obvious she was still in pain, though.

Discretely, I waved my hand just above her forehead. _Nitero, can you hear me? How's it going? _

It took a moment, but Nitero eventually answered. _It's going better. The process was taking longer than we thought it would, though. _

_Thanks for taking care of her and everything. _

_My pleasure, _Nitero replies. _But I must go. There is still work to do. _

I nod, and take one long look at Dawn, and then quietly leave the hospital bay. For some reason, I still think this won't turn out the way I want it to.

I found Will outside, staring at something on the wall. "Did you find it?" I ask while approaching him. He nods.

On the wall, there is a screen with heating settings on them. I start fiddling around with it, and crank it up to about seventy. When I press the enter key, the words "**Access Denied**" appears in big, bold letters.

"Strange," I whisper. "Someone's been tampering with the system."

"But who would do that?" Will asks.

"I think I have an idea," I whisper. "Something isn't right on this ship. I don't think the ice star is the only problem we have on our hands right now. Come on, we've got to go talk to Penny."

Will and I ran around, checking each person who was in the lobby on our way to Penny. Several families were gathered together, huddling in the blankets Alice, Will, and I had brought.

"What did you find out?" Penny asks when I reach her.

"Nothing good," I reply. "There's something more than an ice star that's threatening this ship. Tell me, do you know what started the Red Snake poisoning?"

"N-No," Penny whispers. "We weren't able to trace it."

"That's what I thought," I nodded, and slowly rotated, looking around the ship. "How high do you keep this ship's temperature, on average?"

"Sixty degrees," Penny replies.

"That's too low," I whispered. "I think there's something on this ship that thrives off of the coldness. It's what started the disease."

"But where did it come from?"

"Why do you call it Red Snake Poison?" I ignore her question.

"The first person who was infected it was standing by a red snake," Penny explains. "At least, it was this thing in the wall that looks like a snake. We've investigated it, but decided it was harmless. Why, is something the matter with it?"

"Oh, that thing is anything _but _harmless. Show me, now."

Penny nods, and I run after her as she leaves. "Will, stay here with Alice!" I yell as we leave, and see him barely nod.

Soon enough, I'm right next to Penny, and I breathlessly explain, "Dawn and I have been chasing those cracks. They kind of teleport things from one time and place, and put them in another. I'm wondering if the disease came from the future. Most likely, it's an alien disease."

Penny looks horrified at the thought, but nods anyway. Eventually, we reach a room, and she opens the door.

"It was the Brown family's room," She explains, and walks toward the spot where the crack in the wall was. It was _very _small, probably only a few inches long. "Their little girl, Emma, was the first one to become infected. She's been cured now, though."

"Did you ever get around to asking her when she was infected?" I ask, staring at the crack.

"No," Penny replies. "We just know she was in the room alone, and touched the crack."

"We need something harmless," I whispered. "Uh..." I look around the room, and eventually settle on pulling a thread from a sheet on the bed. Then, I push it into the crack.

Just as I suspected, it closed shut. "Interesting," I whispered. "Well, at least infection can't come in now."

Penny nods. "I need you to introduce me to Emma Brown," I whisper. "I have a few questions to ask her."

• • •

"Emma Brown, right?" I ask the little girl standing in front of me. She was probably only six. She had short brown hair, and big blue eyes.

The girl doesn't reply, but she blinks. "Can you even hear me?" I whisper.

Emma doesn't reply again.

"Who are you? How did you get the disease?" I ask.

"Emma Brown." She replies in a robot-like voice. "I touched a crack."

I touched her forehead. It was freezing.

"Hey, Mrs. Brown?" I asked.

"Yes?" Mrs. Brown, Emma, Penny, and I were sitting in the lobby, and I was asking Emma a few questions. Or, trying to, anyway.

"Is there a reason she didn't have a blanket on?" I question.

"She didn't want it," Mrs. Brown replied. "I didn't know she had to have one. I tried making her use one, but...she kicked and fought so I stopped."

"Emma, what's your favorite color?" I ask her.

She doesn't reply. Simply stares.

"Mrs. Brown, what's her favorite color?"

"Pink."

"Emma, what's your favorite color?"

"Pink," She replies in the same robot-like voice.

I feel a pang of sadness go through me. "I'm sorry Mrs. Brown," I whisper. "But I think you lost your daughter a long time ago. Now there's just a disease using her body as a home."

"W-What do you mean?" Mrs. Brown cries. She starts to cry, and I have a feeling she suspected this, but didn't want to believe it. "How do I get it to leave her?"

"Warm her up," I murmur, and turn around. "Come on, Penny. Let's leave her in peace."

Penny follows me to where Alice and Will were standing. We sat in a circle, and despite the fact that I was freezing, I refused when Alice asked me if I wanted a blanket. "Other people need them," I mumbled, pushing it away.

"Penny, how much time do we have?" I murmur.

She glances down at her watch, and replies in a quiet voice, "Five minutes. What do we do?"

"I don't know anymore," I whisper. "I'm just...not sure." _Dusk, you idiot! _I scold myself. _Dawn would have us out of this situation! _

Wait...that's it! Dawn! I decide to go check on her.

"I'll be back," I mutter, and stand up to leave.

Sprinting toward the hospital bay, I burst in, and look at where Dawn was lying.

Only she wasn't there.

"Again?" I grumble, frustrated. "Wait...that must mean she-," I stopped talking. Where _was _she, if she had finished regenerating?

I raced back to where Alice, Will, and Penny were huddled in a circle. "She's gone!" I exclaimed.

"Who?" They all ask at the same time.

"Dawn!"

"What?"

I nod. "She's gone. I don't know what happened."

"Maybe the nurses moved her?" Penny suggests.

I shrug. "I don't know, but-"Guys," Penny whispers. "Twenty seconds until impact."

That's when I know it's over. I begin to feel weak, so I crouch down next to Penny. Will was cradling Alice in his arms, with a frightened look on his face. Penny dug her head into my shoulder, and I simply stared out into space.

"We work bravely," I say strongly. "We'll die bravely."

"Ten," Penny whispers.

"Nine," Alice carries on.

"Eight," Will murmurs.

"Seven," I continue.

"Six." We're all counting together now.

"Five."

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

The ship lurches, jolts, and spins around. It reminds me of the TARDIS.

Suddenly, a long, squeaky, cackling noise cuts off everyone's screaming. It reminds me of feedback on a microphone.

"Hello? Am I on?" A familiar voice says, and a silly grin is plastered on my face, Alice's, and Will's. Penny must think we're crazy.

"Ah, ello!" The voice continues. "I hope you've enjoyed your ride on STEK airlines. That's what they say nowadays, right?

"Anyway, how about we warm things up a little, and get to Salasburgia, yeah? Cool...but let's take a stop by the sun first, shall we?"

A blinding light comes from the window, but just as soon as it's there, it's gone.

"There, that's better. Now, before I leave, how about a deal: You give me Alice, Will, and Jason, I set you back on course?"

There's a loud cheer of "yes" coming from the crowd of people, and I laugh. She did it. Gosh, she's brilliant.

"Well, thanks a ton, everyone. I'll be there in just a second then."

A very familiar _fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh _sound fills the air, and I watch as Dawn's TARDIS takes place in the middle of the crowd. Will, Alice, and I wave goodbye to Penny, who is smiling as we enter the TARDIS.

**Dawn's POV-**

A "creak" noise comes from the door, and I flick one more switch on the console. Then, I turn to look as Alice, Will, and, of course, Dusk, come inside.

They all run up to me, and I hug each of them individually, starting with Will, ending with Dusk. "You're too brilliant," I whisper in his ear.

"Right back at you," He chuckles.

"Now, tell me!" I say to all of them. "How do I look? I didn't have time to look in a mirror, really...I kind of had to drag a spaceship away from an ice star using a tractor beam."

Alice, Will, and Dusk look over me, and Dusk murmurs, "Not _too _different, actually. Well, your hair is red."

"Oh my _gosh!_" I scream. "I'm _ginger! _Man, that's _awesome! _I've always wanted to have red hair!"

"Your eyes are the same," Alice continues for Dusk. "And the shape of your face is a little bit different. But other than that, you're basically the same old Dawn."

"That's so cool!" I giggle, running a hand through my new red hair, which goes down to a little below my shoulders. Holding some up to my eyes, I realize it's the same color as Amy Pond's. "Oh, and guess what? This part is the best! I get to keep my personality and everything! Nitero explained everything to me. She said because I'm half human, I get to keep my personality, and apparently, my eye color throughout my regenerations! I still have the same abilities, and I'm actually a little _extra _hyper right now because there's still some of-," I gag, and some venitle gas flows out of my mouth. "_That _inside of my body."

Dusk is grinning like crazy. "So...you're still...you?"

"Yeah!" I nod vigorously. "I'm still me! Only I look a tiny bit different."

"That's awesome!" He cries. "I was...well, I-," I placed a hand over his mouth, and whispered, "I get it. I wouldn't want you to change, either."

"So what happens to all the sick people?" Will asks.

"Oh, they're fine," I smile, waving a hand. "The sun we passed burned the disease out of them."

"Cool," Will murmurs. Alice smiles, and Dusk is probably grinning too, but my hand is still over his mouth. Blushing a little, I pull it away.

"Come on, let's go celebrate!" I cry, and skip over to the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Dusk asks.

"The pool, of course! Now, come on, Alice, Will, you've still got time before you go home. Oh, what the heck, we're in a _time _machine! Who _doesn't _have time in here?" They all laughed, and we raced each other to the pool, even though I was the only one who actually knew the way.

And at that moment...

I decided I was _truly _happy. Because I was fine just being with friends. For once.

**Aw! Fluff!**

**HA HA HA! I bet I TOTALLY got you! :P**

**Did you like the ending? Wasn't it awesome?**

**Mission accomplished! Two chapters in one day! I'm awesome! :D**

**But there are still some questions unanswered, huh? What was up with 'fifty-three?' And what about the whole Red Snake poison thing?**

**And will Alice and Will end up being companions?**

**Hmm...so many questions, so few answers!**

**Sorry, but once again, I can't do a sneak peek this chapter! It's because I haven't planned the next one all that much, so I don't want to totally mess it up. :P**

**But two chapters in one day is good enough, right? :D REVIEW!**


	19. Chapter 18: The Game

**It's me! AGAIN!**

**Okay...this adventure is going to be so much fun! It's kind of my version of "Amy's Choice," but Dawn Melody version...and better. :D**

**The beginning is...interesting. The point is to hook you in. So keep reading, and it will make sense!**

**Anyway, ENJOY!**

**Chapter 18: Delany Mawn**

**Dawn's POV-**

I blocked out the sounds of Dusk's scream that echoed in my ears. He was dead...in a sense. Yet also alive. _Very _alive.

Because if my hunch is correct, then being shot by a Dalek will definitely set everything back to normal.

I hope.

So I stood fearlessly in front of the Dalek, as my life in the past few weeks passed before me. Alice, Will, Cybermen, The Doctor, Angela, Amy, Mazai, Tenepiscus, Marth...Dusk.

And finally, the Dalek shot me, and I fell to the ground.

**Three hours earlier...**

"So, you're sure you don't want to stay?" I asked Will and Alice as they left the TARDIS.

They had spent the night here, and Alice announced this morning that she wanted to go home. Will had said he wanted to, also.

"Yeah," Alice replies, and Will nods. "Your life is just...I don't know. Too much for me."

"Same here," Will agrees.

"Well, feel free to call anytime! Especially if there's any trouble! You know Dusk and I, we like a good adventure," I encourage, and Dusk chuckles.

"Bye!" Alice squeals, and we hug one last time.

I close the TARDIS doors, hesitate a moment, and then dash up the console stairs.

"So, where are we going today?" Dusk asks.

"Hm." I flop down into a chair we had placed by the console yesterday. "Well, I'm a little worried," I began, flipping through my Mum's diary, until I reached the page after the Soul Stealer, which was the last adventure that actually had an entry. "Because of which alien I wrote about on this page." I chewed on my lip, and Dusk peered over my shoulder.

"What is that?" He asks. "It looks kind of like a peppershaker, with an eye thingy."

"It's called a Dalek," I explain, narrowing my eyes at the sketch. "And I _do not _want to meet those anytime soon."

"Why?"

"They kill as soon as they see you. Usually."

"Oh. Cool."

I stick my tongue out at him like a five year old, and he laughs. "Oh, shut up!" I giggle, slapping him playfully with my diary.

"So where _are _we going, then?" Dusk continues to ask.

"I was thinking about New York," I shrug. "If we're going to meet Daleks, why not go to one of the biggest cities in America?"

Dusk smiles, and I flick a few switches. Spin a top.

Dusk points to a big red button, and asks, "What does that one do?"

I press it, and reply, "Oh, blows up some random planet in the milky way. Maybe Earth."

His eyes widen, and I laugh. "Just kidding! It actually increases our speed." He nods, and I shake my head. "Honestly, do you _really _think I'd blow up a planet?"

He shrugs, and I sigh.

"You're stupid." Of course he knows I don't mean it.

"Thanks," Dusk chuckles.

Eventually, we reach our destination. "Welcome to New York!" I exclaim, and open the doors of the TARDIS.

Only they're locked.

But I never lock them.

At least, not from the inside.

"Hey, Sweetie, why are the doors locked?" I ask.

She doesn't reply. She _always _replies.

"Because the board isn't set up yet!" A voice exclaims from across the TARDIS. I look up at Dusk, and his face is wearing the same blank expression as I am.

"Gosh, I'm right here!" The feminine voice says, and suddenly, I'm in front of myself. Literally. There's a copy of _me _in front of _me. _

I jump, and yell, "What the-?"

"Oh, Dawn, you're so silly," I say. Well, not _me, _but...other me. "Always jumping around and being crazy. Of course, I suppose I'm kind of the same way."

Other me puts a finger on her chin, as if in deep thought. "Well, anyway, Sweetie's doors won't open because the game isn't set up yet!"

"What do you mean?" I ask. "Who are you?"

"I'm you, only smarter, funnier, prettier, and...better. No offense or anything, but you're rubbish," Other me explains.

"Who are you calling rubbish? You're _me!_" I exclaim.

"No, I think like you, and I look like you, and I feel what you feel, but I'm _not _you. I'm Delany Mawn." Delany explains. She makes a big show of snapping her fingers, and I see an alarm clock appear in her other hand, which starts ringing. "Ooh, it's ready!" She giggles, and skips over to the console.

Dusk stares at me, and mouths, "What's going on?"

I shrug. It was all a little strange, if you ask me.

Suddenly, I realize Delany was installing the alarm clock into the TARDIS. "Oi!" I yell, running up next to her. "What do you think you're doing to my TARDIS?"

"_Our _TARDIS," She corrects coldly. "I'm putting some finishing touches on the board."

"What board?"

"The board."

"I know it's a board, but what board?"

"_The _board!" Delany cries, and rolls her eyes. "Gosh, you're so stupid."

I glare at her, and growl, "What do you want?"

"Only to have a little fun," Delany giggles, and flips her hair. "How about we play a game?"

"What _kind _of game?" I spit.

"I'll explain the rules. Jason, come here! You should listen to this, too!" Dusk stays where he is, tilting his head to the side slightly in a look of doubt.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you don't trust me. I'm _her!_" She waves her arms. "Fine, we'll do it the hard way then." Delany snaps her fingers, and in an instant, Dusk is standing before us, wobbling like a dog with one leg.

"How did you do that?" I ask.

"Like I said, I'm smarter, funnier, _way _prettier, and all around better than you," Delany flips her hair yet again. I was becoming _very _annoyed.

"Now, I'll explain the rules, because I want to play a game, and there's nothing you can do about it," Delany laughs. Not the funny laugh. That one laugh where it's not _quite _the evil villain laugh, but pretty darn close.

"What if I don't want to?" Dusk asks, and I grip his arm tightly.

"So be it," Delany shrugs, and snaps her fingers yet again.

I see pain cross Dusk's face, and his skin burns my hand. I immediately pull away, and Dusk holds his head in his hands.

"Stop!" I cry, and shove Delany aside.

"Oh, right, I forgot about what Master said...just some re-enforcement," She giggles. "But, yeah, you don't play, you pay. Ooh, look, I rhymed!" I glare frostily

Dusk gasps in pain, and grabs his ribs. He looks up at Delany in a glare of disgust, and growls, "You little-," I cut him off, and say, "All right, so what's this so-called _game_ about? Why are you choosing us to play? And who are you, exactly?"

"Tsk, tsk, so many questions!" Delany rolls her eyes. "I'm Delany Mawn, for the hundredth time. If you really want an in-depth explanation, then let's just say you'll figure out soon enough. I'm choosing you to play because you'll make it all the more fun! So here's the rules: There are two worlds. One is a dream, one is reality. And yes, before you interrupt, _Dawn,_" She spat out my name like it was a mouthful of sour milk.. "I already _know _it's exactly like your father's adventure with Amy and Rory. Anyway, you have to choose which is the dream, and which is the reality. You die in the dream, you wake up in reality. You die in reality, well, you die in reality, stupid. You lose, you die, obviously. You win, which won't happen, by the way, I cease to exist."

"Well, that's easy," Dusk laughs. "This is reality, obviously. I mean, aren't we already here?"

"See, but here's the twist: The game hasn't started yet. _I _choose where and when it starts. Which is in...approximately five seconds. Time to go to sleep! Or are you waking up?"

I slumped down against the TARDIS, and so did Dusk. Just before I fell asleep, I heard Delany laughing like crazy, and the TARDIS making a _fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh, _noise...

• • •

I gasped, and my eyes fluttered open. Looking around, I realized I was in my room. Flopping down onto my pillow, I shuddered.

Well...that was a strange dream.

There was a knock on my door, and I said, "Come in!"

Dusk walked inside, and sat on my bed. Just sat there. In silence.

"What's up?" I eventually asked, a confused look on my face. "Is something wrong with Alice and Will?"

They were sleeping here for the night, as we had gone swimming earlier, and Alice said she was too tired to finish a day at home.

"No, I...had a weird dream," Dusk chuckles.

"Me, too," I giggle. "We were in the TARDIS, and there was like, another me there, or something."

Dusk's head snaps toward mine, and I look at him in confusion. "What?" I ask.

"Was her name Delany?" He whispers.

I nod.

"And she talked about...the game, right?"

I nod.

"So why did we have the same dream?" He asks.

I slowly looked around the room, and replied, "I don't know. Maybe something having to do with Sweetie. It's possible she was a link between our thoughts."

"Or," A familiar voice sings. "The dream was real! Or was it reality, and this is the dream? Either, way, guess what? I'm in _both!_"

My head snapped over to where the voice was coming from, and I gasped. There, standing in the faint light of my room, was Delany.

"B-But, you," I stuttered. "You were a dream!"

"Or am I reality? Or am I reality in a dream, within reality within a dream? Wait...does that even make sense?" Delany trails off, and ponders those thoughts for a few moments. "Anyway, I'm ba-ack!" She puts and emphasis on the word 'back,' and sings it like it's the best word she's ever heard.

"But this is definitely reality, so how are you here? I mean, I can feel pain if I pinch myself!" Dusk cries, and I hold in a giggle.

Suddenly, I gasp. "Dusk," I whisper. "Look at your arm."

It was a burn mark, in the shape of my hand. When Delany had tortured him in the dream, my hand had been there.

"But that's...impossible," Dusk whispers. "It was a dream."

"Or was it reality?" Delany shrugs. "Only I know."

"From now on," I whisper to Dusk. "Don't trust anything, and I mean _anything, _that you see, hear, or feel. It could all be fake."

"That won't help you now, Dawn," Delany sighs, and sits down in a chair that popped out of thin air. "It might all be real, too."

"Oh, shut up," I mutter.

"Now, now, be nice! Or else," Delany adds at the end. I glare darkly at her.

"And oh yes, did I mention some other minor rules? No sonic screwdriver," She points at me. "No nanogenes," She points at Dusk.

Anger bubbles inside of me. "Ooh, look!" Delany cries, and an alarm clock pops into her hand. "Time to wake up! Or sleep...or are you waking up while sleeping while waking up while sleeping? Gosh, I really have to stop this whole confusing babble...hehe!"

I'm filled with the sudden feeling of drowsiness, and just before I fall asleep, I whisper to Dusk, "Remember how real this feels, before we sleep...or wake up, or whatever. Compare it to the feeling in the other world."

And then I'm out cold.

I'm running around the TARDIS, playing around with some controls.

"So what exactly _is _going on?" Dusk asks, throwing a hacky-sack up and down.

"I don't _know,_" I murmur. "When we went to sleep last night, we may have never woken up. Maybe this _is _the dream. Maybe this whole _thing _is a dream. But...see, here's the thing: This has happened to my dad before, but it was physic pollen. I have a feeling this is something totally different, though."

"Ooh, look who's starting to eliminate options!" A familiar voice sighs. "As usual. Honestly, Dawn, don't you _ever _do anything fun?" Delany was perched on the console, filing her nails.

I roll my eyes, and in a mocking tone, reply, "Honestly, Delany, won't you _ever _leave us?"

"Not until it's game over!"

I sigh. "Great."

"Hey, be nice, remember?"

"How about you follow your own rule?"

"How about you shut up?"

Anger bubbled inside me, but I decided not to reply. Dusk, apparently, chose the opposite of what I decided to do.

"How about you do the same!" He yelled at Delany. "You're right! You aren't anything like Dawn! You're stupid, annoying, and a pest! So how about you just shut _up!_"

My mouth dropped open. I had never seen him so irritated. So what was provoking him now?

"Ooh, he's _angry,_" Delany giggled, and walked over to Dusk, tapping him on the nose with her finger. "You're adorable when you do that, you know. _She _thinks so, too, you should hear what thoughts run through her-"Enough," I growl, and Delany backs away. My face burned, and I pretended to be very interested in a button on the console.

"Oh, fine," She shrugs. "I'll leave...for now. But that doesn't mean I'm quitting the game." With a _poof, _she's gone.

"Well," Dusk murmurs. "That was...interesting."

"Very," I responded, and continued, "Come on...might as well go outside so we can figure which world is real and which one is fake."

Dusk nods, and this time, when I open the doors, they fly open.

It looks like normal New York City outside. And I sure hope it stays that way.

Of course, my hopes don't matter, do they?

Because as soon as I step outside of the TARDIS, I hear a scream in the distance.

Glancing at Dusk, he flashes me a smile, which I return, and we start running toward the noise.

I look down every alley we run by. No sign of anyone, anywhere. I was pretty sure the scream belonged to a girl, but I could be wrong.

Eventually, we found her. Cornered by a Dalek. Oh, yay.

"EXTERMINATE!" It screams in its mechanical voice, and I shudder. It sounded just like I had described it in the diary. "EX-"Oh, no you don't!" I cried, and the Dalek's eyepiece turns around.

"The human race will be EXTERMINATED!" The Dalek's voice rose as the sentence continued, and just as I heard another "EX-," come out, the Dalek's head exploded. But it wasn't natural, because I had heard a gunshot just before it happened.

After casting a quick glance at the girl who had been cornered was all right, I whipped around.

Standing at the end of the alley was a boy, probably Dusk's age. I seem to be running into a lot of those kids lately...

Anyway, he was wearing a blue sweatshirt, black sweatpants, black sunglasses, and had long-ish black hair. His skin was wearing the perfect tan, and his brown eyes stood out against it. And I hate to admit it, but...he was cute. _Really_ cute.

He was leaning against something along the lines of a motorcycle, but it looked a little more futuristic. An even more futuristic looking gun was slung over his shoulder with a strap, and a smirk was plastered on his face.

And you know what the saddest part was? He could be completely fake. Just a fragment of Delany's imagination, made from a snap of the fingers. Something to tempt me...after all, boys that cute don't exist. Then again, that meant I would have to consider classifying Dusk as non-existent, and-okay. Never mind.

The dude flipped his hair. Crap. If this _is _a fragment of Delany's imagination, she _definitely _knows how to get to me.

"Did you do that?" I ask, staring at the large gun slung over his shoulder.

"Yeah," He nods. "That thing is really dangerous. It's called a-"Dalek," I finish for him. "Yeah, I know.

The guy nods, and doesn't look too surprised. "Are your parents part of Torchwood too, then?" He asks.

I snort. "Torchwood? Nah. I just know my way around...actually, I _really _know my way around."

"Slitheen?" The boy asks.

"Slimy green things that hide inside of overweight humans? Yeah. By the way, do you know why _everyone _thinks of them when they're trying to test your alien intelligence?"

The boy shrugs, and I continue, "I mean, there's always the Daleks, Cybermen, Racnos, Santa Robot things, androids, Weeping Angels..." I named all of them, holding up a finger for each of them.

"But...being part of Torchwood, you know about all of those, don't you?" I ask, suddenly realizing I'm blabbing again. Dusk, beside me, snorts. I glare at him.

The boy nods. Just when he's about to reply, a hauntingly familiar voice sighs, "Really, Dawn? You just _always _have to go and be a show-off, don't you? Just like your dad, huh?"

I glare at Delany, who is now standing a little ways away from the mysterious boy. "Shut up," I growl.

"Ooh, I don't think so!" Delany giggles, waving a finger. "Such colorful language, too. I think _that _deserves a little beating..."

I feel a sharp pain seer through my head, and scream, grasping it.

But it was a very important moment, because I could see right into her thoughts. I caught a glimpse of some things in there: The boy. Wait...is that _surprise? _So maybe she _didn't _create him? I looked for anything having to do with the dreams, but the pain abruptly stopped, and Delany laughed, "Ooh, sneaky, aren't you? That's right, I _didn't _create the dude." She jabs a thumb in his direction. "He's _hot, _though. You called dibs already though, so..." She shrugs, and I glare. Gosh. This was getting _very _annoying.

"I'm actually not capable of creating humans," Delany explains. "Yet." She adds at the end, sensing my 'weakness detector.'

"But," She continues cheerfully. "I _can _do this!"

She snaps her fingers, and I hear a loud, booming, "EXTERMINATE!" From behind me. I sigh. Roll my eyes. Slowly turn around.

The Dalek was repaired. Wonderful.

"Come on!" The boy shouts from behind me. He's gesturing to the large 'motorcycle,' and I glance at Dusk. That silly look of excitement is plastered on his face, and we silently agree to go with the mysterious boy.

I just hope Delany _wasn't _lying about not creating him.

Really, _really _hope. Because I liked him...so far.

**I bet you're all thinking, NO DAWN! DON'T GROW ATTACHED TO HIM! HE'LL END UP DYING! lol. :D I get you. But I can't tell you what will happen. ;)**

**Anyway, hope you all liked this chapter...I thought it was rubbish. :P It actually gets better as the "dream sequence" goes on though, because I have some pretty twisted intentions for it, if you didn't pick that up from the prologue... ;)**

**Okay, be honest: Who hates Delany? :P**

**Now, here's your sneak peek!**

"Why is that, Jason?" Delany asks, and for a moment, my heart shatters in pity for the girl. "Why is it that people don't like me? I try, I honestly do. Or at least, I used to. My whole existence in this world is a mistake. I'm not _supposed _to be here. Dawn created me. That's why I hate her so much. And I'm so envious, _all the time. _She has everything...you, Sweetie, a mum, a dad, _friends. _And I have none of that. Why is that, Jason? Why?"

"I...I don't know," I whisper, and frown.

"Neither do I," Delany replies wistfully. "Neither do I."

"If you want the honest truth, Delany," I start. "You could always try being a little more kind. You don't _have _to do this, you know. Dawn could take you somewhere, bring you peace. You could start over."

"Oh, no," Delany whispers, sadly shaking her head. "I was born in battle, Jason. Blood, fear, and hate. That is who I am. _What _I am. And I honestly, truly wish it were different, but it's not. I'll never be Dawn Melody. And the saddest part is, that I _lied. _A terrible, cruel lie. I'm not better than her at all. She's so much more...brilliant, than I am, to put it lightly."

"I think you could be so much more," I murmur. "You really could."

She shakes her head again. "I can't. Sorry." She smiles sadly, and then continues, "Well...I could do one nice thing, couldn't I? How about I give you back to her. She misses you. I can feel it."

I nod. "Okay," I whisper. "But...don't lose hope yet, okay? Dawn has a funny way of...making things better."

Delany rolls her eyes. "I should know," She whispers, and with that, snaps her fingers, and everything goes black.

**Aw...so, be honest: After reading that sneak peek, who feels a little less hatred for Delany? REVIEW!**


	20. Chapter 19: Dreams and Realities

**Okay, as I am writing this, it is currently Wednesday night, 8:49 pm. Let's see if I can get this done by Friday night! Probably not. :P**

**Anyway, hope you like this adventure so far, here's the next chapter!**

**ENJOY!**

**(Woah, chapter NINETEEN? Crazy!)**

**Chapter 19: Split Up**

**Dawn's POV-**

"I'm Tyler, by the way! But you can call me Ty!" Ty yelled over the roar of the motorcycle. Thankfully, it was big enough for Dusk, Ty, and I to fit somewhat comfortably in.

Of course, I was terrified of motorcycles, but I wasn't going to let anyone know that. Even Dusk, whose torso I had my hands tied around firmly. He glanced over his shoulder, flashed me his encouraging trademark grin, and then turned back toward the front of the vehicle.

It was at that moment I decided that however cute of a boy I ran into, no one was ever going to top Dusk. He was my best friend, and no one could ever get in the way of that. And maybe...just _maybe, _I liked him. At least, much more than he liked me.

I heard the angry roar of the Dalek behind us, and Ty made the motorcycle accelerate. I buried my head into Dusk's shoulder, whimpering a little. He was shaking with laughter, and I pushed his stomach with my hands, unable to gather the confidence to actually lift up my head and glare at him. That didn't shut him up though, and he continued to laugh at my fear.

Eventually, Ty stopped the motorcycle. We may have been riding for a few heartbeats, or it could have been a lifetime. I honestly couldn't tell.

In one swift movement, Ty leapt off the motorcycle, turned around, and shot the Dalek's head off...again. I smiled. "Not bad aim," I commented, and he threw a lopsided grin at me. I swooned again, but didn't let the emotions inside effect my face. You know what? No matter how much you like another guy, I don't think it's possible to _not _think of other guys as cute. It's an impulse.

Delany popped up next to Ty, and I jumped. "Tsk, tsk," Delany shakes her head. "You just don't give up, do you, Dawn? But I've been reading your thoughts lately, and I've decided it's time I had a little..._chat _with Jason."

I glared evilly at her, and snarled, "Don't you _dare _say anything." It would destroy our friendship if he didn't like me back. And...of course he didn't. My heart tore a little when I realized that.

Delany shrugs, and replies, "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Honestly, with me, you can never tell."

"You won't do _anything _to hurt him," I growl. "Or believe me, I will-"Oh, shut up," Delany rolls her eyes. "Remember, we kind of share a brain? I almost like him as much as you do, and I met him...what? Half an hour ago? And don't worry, I'm only taking him to _my _world. As for you...ooh, time to go to sleep, huh?"

My eyelids grow heavy, and I slump against a wall. Delany laughs, and I hear her fingers _snap!_ Just before I was knocked out cold, I heard four voices cry simultaneously, "EXTERMINATE!"

_Crap, _was my last thought as I struggled to stay awake, but couldn't help it, and fell into a deep sleep.

• • •

I flew up off of the floor of the TARDIS. Slamming a hand down on the console, I screamed in frustration. Then, remembering that Alice and Will were still sleeping, I quietly let out the rest of my frustration by pacing.

"Sorry Sweetie," I whispered, rubbing my hand.

She didn't reply. I _really_ hate Delany right now.

She was very clever, though, I had to give her that. Funny thing is...I haven't even started _guessing _which is the dream and which is reality yet.

I collapse onto the floor, and let a few tears of aggravation escape my eyes.

Eventually, I wipe my eyes, and whisper, "Oh, what am I going to _do?_"

I let out a long sigh, and close my eyes.

"Okay, gather my thoughts," I whisper, and start thinking very hard.

So, what do I know? That's the question.

Delany is _almost _an exact copy of myself. If she _were _me, she would have been much nicer and...me-er. Yeah. Me-er.

I don't know where she came from, but she kind of just popped up in the TARDIS from what may be the dream or the reality. She said I'd figure out later though...I suppose I'll just have to be patient.

So, this world...Alice and Will are here, but sleeping, so they won't be any help. They haven't left yet, but in the other world, they will.

In the other world, I've met Ty, who I'm still not sure I trust. He's too...oh, I don't know. There are Daleks in that world...my worst nightmare.

"Nightmare," I whispered. "Oh, that's it! Nightmare! I wouldn't want to be anywhere _near _Daleks! Like a nightmare...thing is..." I trail off, and wonder if it was Dusk's nightmare, too. How could the dream relate to him?

When Amy, the Doctor, and Rory were in the whole "dream sequence," there was a dream for each of them. Dad, at first, said that the Amy-Rory-future-world was a nightmare. Is it possible that his was a "nightmare" because Amy and Rory weren't with him, and that's how the Dream Lord made up the world, based off of the Doctor's fears?

Amy was torn, obviously. She thought both dreams were real, both were fake.

Rory, however, preferred the Amy-Rory-future-world. Which is maybe why the Dream Lord made up the world in the TARDIS, which was based off of what Rory _feared _would happen: That him and Amy would stay in the TARDIS, and that was their "future."

So, was it possible that the worlds were based off of _fears, _and that neither of them were real?

Clearly, the world I was afraid of was the one with Daleks, because I would never want Dusk or I put in that situation. But what about Dusk? What was he afraid of?

Was it possible _this_ isthe world he's afraid of? He wouldn't want to leave me alone? Dusk, of course, would much rather prefer adventures than not being with me...right?

But why would Delany show me this by taking him away?

I groaned. "So many questions."

Funny thing is, if this is the world I would rather be in (I'd rather know Dusk is safe and without me than have him be close to Daleks), and it is _my _reality, then the other world must be a dream. But if _that _world is a dream, then how is it _Dusk's_ reality? And how is _this_ his dream?

I was pondering these thoughts when I heard some groan from across the console.

"Gosh," A familiar voice mutters. "You think she'd let me land a _little _more stable..."

I bolted into a standing position, and saw Dusk. He smiled sheepishly, and waved. I didn't know what to do. What had Delany told him?

So I just stared at him for a couple of seconds. Didn't glare. Didn't blush. Didn't really do anything. Just looked.

He looked confused. Just what I expected.

"Now then," I murmur, pretending to play with a bike brake on the console. "Where now?"

"I was hoping you would know what to do," Dusk laughs. "Well...Delany said the game would be over soon enough, so..."

"What?" I cry, and my head snaps up. No! I wasn't ready yet! I need to figure this out!

"Yeah," Dusk whispers. "Sh-She...she said soon it wouldn't matter if she was alive or not. Her Master would..."

I didn't hear the rest of Dusk's reply. I was in one of those Time Lord/Lady trances, when you're just about to figure something out, where it's on the very tip of your tongue, and you can hear the words being whispered in the back of your head.

_Her Master would, _I thought. _Her Master would. What does that mean? _

I thought back to when Dusk and I first met Delany. She had said something...something important.

_Oh, right, _Delany sighed. _Master said just some re-enforcement. No death. _Or, at least, it was something like that.

So what did it mean?

"Dawn!" Dusk yells. I realize he's standing next to me now, and I jump a little, putting a hand to my throat. He puts his arms on my shoulders, and whispers, "Can you feel it?"

I give him a questioning look. "What?" I ask.

"I'm really...tired..." Dusk yawns.

"Crap," I mutter, realizing what he was talking about.

And then, just as I collapse onto the floor, it hits me:

My _Master _said just some re-enforcement.

Master?

Master...

Master!

• • •

**Dusk's POV-**

I rub my forehead, and mutter, "What do you want?"

Looking around, I realize we're in a TARDIS that looks somewhat like Dawn's, but something about it feels different.

Delany sighs, and replies, "Honestly, Jason, you're such a..." She trails off, looking into space. And then she starts crying. She crumbles to the floor, curls up in a ball, and sobs. Sobs like crazy.

I really didn't know what to do. Delany is...difficult. And I didn't like her that much. But seeing her like this didn't make it harder to hate her, especially because she looked like Dawn, so I felt like it was _Dawn _crying, not her.

"Sorry," She eventually sniffles, looking up at me. Delany rests her head against the TARDIS console. I nod.

"That wasn't supposed to happen...I had a burst of feeling, and at the same time Dawn did, so it enhanced my emotion, and...yeah. I can't _really_ read her mind, actually ," Her voice drops to a whisper. "I can only feel what she feels. And only if it's very strong."

I nod again, not knowing what else to do.

She brushes a piece of fiery red hair out of her eyes. "But it _feels _like I can read her mind, because I figure if we're basically the same, then she thinks the same way I do.

"Course, why I'm explaining this to you, I don't know," Delany giggles quietly. "Stupid emotions." She lightly hits her fist on the floor, and shakes her head.

"Why did you bring me here?" I ask.

She shrugs. "I don't know. I figured Dawn just wanted a little bit of time to think...and cry, for that matter, without you being there. And I wanted to talk to _someone,_" Her voice drops to a whisper again. I realize how different this Delany is from her other personality.

"Who are you, Delany?" I question curiously.

She gives me a quick glance, and replies, "I can only tell you that Dawn created me. She doesn't know, but she did. And I'm _always _watched."

"By who?"

"My Master."

"Who's he?"

"My Master," She shrugs. "He never tells me his name. Not that he needs to. He's the closest thing to a friend I have...and he's not very much. People honestly don't like me."

"Why is that, Jason?" Delany asks, and for a moment, my heart shatters in pity for the girl. "Why is it that people don't like me? I try, I honestly do. Or at least, I used to. My whole existence in this world is a mistake. I'm not _supposed _to be here. Dawn created me. That's why I hate her so much. And I'm so envious, _all the time. _She has everything...you, Sweetie, a mum, a dad, _and friends. _I have none of that. Why is that, Jason? Why?"

"I...I don't know," I whisper, and frown.

"Neither do I," Delany replies wistfully. "Neither do I."

"If you want the honest truth, Delany," I start. "You could always try being a little more kind. You don't _have _to do this, you know. Dawn could take you somewhere, bring you peace. You could start over."

"Oh, no," Delany whispers, sadly shaking her head. "I was born in battle, Jason. Blood, fear, and hate. That is who I am. _What _I am. And I honestly, truly wish it were different, but it's not. I'll never be Dawn Melody. And the saddest part is, that I _lied. _A terrible, cruel lie. I'm not better than her at all. She's so much more...brilliant, than I am, to put it lightly."

"I think you could be so much more," I murmur. "You really could."

She shakes her head again. "I can't. Sorry." She smiles sadly, and then continues, "Well...I could do one nice thing, couldn't I? How about I give you back to her. She misses you. I can feel it."

I nod. "Okay," I whisper. "But...don't lose hope yet, okay? Dawn has a funny way of...making things better."

Delany rolls her eyes. "I should know," She whispers. "But none of it really matters anymore. The game's about to end soon." And with that, she snaps her fingers, and everything goes black.

• • •

**Dawn's POV-**

I bang my fist on the brick wall. "Crap!" I yell. "Why didn't I see this coming?"

Not _Delany's _Master, but _The _Master.

"That's how she got here," I murmur, the words flying out of my mouth as smoothly as butter. Dusk gives me a curious look. "She's a...copy, of me. Remember that day, on Muforam, where the Master kind of did a DNA transfusion? He must have transfused just a _tiny _bitof my DNA into that machine of his. Just enough to be able to make a...clone, kind of, that looks like me and all that other stuff. The fire must have sparked up the machine, didn't switch the DNA and all that, and it made an actual _clone _of me. And-Wait, where are we, exactly?"

For the first time since we woke up, I actually look around the room we're in. It's pretty small. The walls are made out of brick, and the floor is made out of stone. There are no windows in the room, but a light on the ceiling. Several mechanical parts are scattered around the floor, and I see Ty in the middle of them.

Dusk is crouched next to him, and I hear Ty's voice answer, "Welcome to Torchwood. This is...well, my base, basically. There's a cloaking device on right now, that's why you can't see some of it."

I nod, walking over to them, curious about what they're doing.

And what I see about blows up my amazing brain. This seems to be happening a lot, lately.

"But that's a-"Vortex Manipulator, yeah," Ty chuckles. "My dad's. I've been trying to fix it. You could use one, right?"

"Yeah, but how did you know?" I ask, examining the invention, which, surprisingly, was coming along quite nicely.

"Just a hunch," Ty shrugs. "My dad met someone like you and Dusk once. No one knows what Daleks, Slitheen, and all those other aliens are unless they're aliens themselves. Or, of course, they're involved in Torchwood or UNIT, but you aren't, so..."

"How would you know that?" I ask, ignoring his implication that I was an alien.. "That we don't work for Torchwood or UNIT, I mean."

"Again, a hunch," Ty responds, playing with a little red wire. "As I said before, my dad met some people like you two before, and they didn't work for Torchwood or UNIT, either."

"Who's your dad?"

"Cap-"EXTERMINATE!"

"_Really_?" Ty cries, and goes to press a button that's by the door. A layer of thick metal crashes down in front of the wooden door, and Ty leans against it. "Well...that should keep them for a while," He mutters, and I smile slightly.

Something grazes my head. I look up, and see the brick ceiling crumbling.

"Unless they come through the ceiling, of course," Ty chuckles dryly. "You should probably leave. Here, take the vortex manipulator. I think it should work now." He tosses me the invention.

"But we won't leave without you, Ty, will we, Dawn?" Dusk asks. "That's not the way we roll."

I smile slightly, and respond, "Yeah, Dusk is right. You should come with us."

Ty waves a hand. "Nah, don't worry about me," He shrugs, leaning against the wall. "I'll be fine."

"Daleks kill, Ty," I reply, my voice level and low.

"I'll be fine," He repeats. "Trust me. Besides...I couldn't leave this place. It means too much to me."

I hesitate. Dusk throws me a glance that says "_This is a guy thing, let him be." _I nod. "Fine," I murmur. "But before we go, I was wondering, have you been alone your whole life?"

Ty smiles, and responds, "Nah. Used to have some partners. Loners, in fact, like me. Friends, even... Dad left when I was young. In fact, he doesn't even know he has me as a kid. Mum died when I was real little. Alien attack. It's what inspired me to follow my Dad's footsteps and make my own Torchwood base."

"Where are they now?" Dusk asks. "Your friends, I mean."

"Lost," Ty shrugs. "They went out for a mission one day, never came back. I made contact with them about a month later, but only for about a minute, and they said they were in a prison base...and then we cut off. Never got the rest of the story."

I felt a rush of admiration for Ty. His Dad didn't know who he was, either. His friends were lost. He could've stopped running his base, but he was determined.

"You...have a good life, Ty. Okay?" I smiled at him, and Ty nods.

"Yeah. I will. Don't worry. I've got a lot of work to do for Torchwood, and I have to find my friends, but I know it will all be okay... eventually."

I give him a sad smile, and Dusk nods at him. Ty shrugs, waves a hand slightly, and I punch in the last coordinate button on the Vortex Manipulator.

Just as we leave, however, I hear the all-too-familiar voice say, "EXTERMINATE!" And a scream that sounds a lot like Ty's.

**Aw... :( Sad. How many of you thought Ty would be a new companion? HA HA HA! I TRICKED YOU ALL! :P**

**Any ideas on who his dad was? ;)**

**Sorry this chapter took so long to update. I was **_**very **_**busy this weekend, and one of the nights I actually wasn't at home. Sorry, again!**

**Anyway, who's excited for the next chapter? I AM! Here's a tiny little itty-bitty sneak peek.**

"Where are we?" Dusk asks, pushing aside some burnt metal.

"The one place Delany hates the most," I reply. "It's dark, dead...and also the place where she was... 'born.'"

"Wait...so we're on Muforam?" Dusk asks.

"Sort of," I reply. "This really is kind of a parallel Muforam. The perfect hiding spot. Only the Master has the technology to hide here."

"So we wouldn't be able to find Marth, and Evelyn, and all those other people here?" Dusk asks.

"Nope," I shake my head. "Actually...this is one of the dreams. We just skipped the part about getting out of the TARDIS." I jab a thumb behind my shoulder, to where Sweetie stood tall and proud.

This was Dusk's dream. Which means we have to die here...right?

I sure hope so.

**Hm...how is Dawn going to fix this one? REVIEW!**


	21. Chapter 20: Reality Swap

**Wow, long time since an update, huh?**

**Sorry about that. Been busy too lately...learning how to knit! And it's not that easy! ;)**

**Anyway, this chapter will most likely conclude this adventure...I think you'll love the ending!**

**I want to dedicate this chapter to my lovely reviewers! You guys are amazing! Even you anonymous readers out there, simply browsing the internet! (I know that's how I got started on here...ha ha ha. ;))**

**Alright, ENJOY!**

**Chapter 20: Reality Swap**

**Dawn's POV-**

Dusk and I wobbled a little when we landed, and I quickly glanced around. "Yup," I whisper into the dimly-lit room. "This is it."

I look down at my wrist, and see the Vortex Manipulator smoking a little. "Darn," I mutter. "Busted."

I gesture with my hand for him to follow, and we begin cautiously walking through the dark, eerie room.

"Where are we?" Dusk asks, pushing aside some burnt metal.

"The one place Delany hates the most," I reply. "It's dark, dead...and also the place where she was...born, I guess you could say."

"Wait...so we're on Muforam?" Dusk asks.

"Sort of," I reply. "This really is kind of a parallel Muforam. The perfect hiding spot. Only the Master has the technology to hide here."

"So we wouldn't be able to find Marth, and Evelyn, and all those other people here?" Dusk asks.

"Nope," I shake my head. "Actually...this is one of the dreams. We just skipped the part about getting out of the TARDIS. This whole time, we haven't been actually falling asleep. Delany has simply been making it feel like we are, and when she snaps her fingers, she teleports us here. Very simple, if you think about it. Basically, this whole thing is a type of Paradox. The Master must have a Paradox Machine, just barely keeping it alive, or else we'd probably be dead right now."

Dusk merely nods, still taking in what I had just told him. I realized I had kind of techno-babbled again.

"Sorry," I giggle. "I'll explain in English: The Master and Delany should not be here, because it's parallel to the other Muforam. We aren't actually supposed to be here either, so the Master has a special machine that lets us just barely teeter in existence. Simple enough for you?"

He nods again. "So...this is all fake?" He asks. "Delany just created all of it?"

"In a way," I reply. "It's basically real, but Delany is able to do her... 'magic' because there's a fake essence to the worlds, too, because both of them are fantasies, yet both of them are dreams, also. See, one of them is your dream, and the other is your reality, but your reality is my dream, and my dream is your reality...so we have to die in the dream. Which means...oh." I stopped dead, and Dusk bumped into me. While he rocked, I stood firmly. For a moment, I forgot to breathe.

"What?" Dusk asks.

"Nothing," I respond. _Lie, _a voice whispers in my head. _He doesn't have to know!_ The other voice argues. _You don't tell a person they have to die! It's not right!_

"Anyway, if my assumptions are correct...we're here."

"Where's here?" Dusk asks, and before I can respond, a hauntingly familiar voice cackles, "Ah, Dawn Melody, such a clever girl you are. Tell me, when did you figure out what would have to be done? That your friend, _Jason, _would have to-"Shut _up,_" I growl.

Some lights flick on, and I see the Master standing by the "earlier mentioned" Paradox Machine. Delany is standing by his side, head down, and I could've sworn she was crying, what with the way she was shaking like crazy.

"Oh, but what if I don't want to?" The Master laughs. I roll my eyes, and he continues, "So be it. You're not going to win this time, though, Dawn Melody. Because I'm two steps ahead of you. And I don't like losing."

"Whatever," I scowl. "Just tell me what you want, and they _we_ can leave." I put an emphasis on the word 'we,' explaining that Dusk and I were leaving together.

"I don't think so," The Master laughs. "All I want is you dead. And your little friend, I suppose." He waves a hand, and I continue to glare icily at him.

"So, lemme guess your plan," I begin. "You do _that,_" I say the word just as he raises a gun at Dusk. "Pretend you're going to shoot him. So, of course, just as you do, I dive in front of him, because he won't have enough time to heal before _that _thing kills him." I point at the futuristic gun. "Which I know, because I have a brilliant Time Lady mind. But of course, I'm forgetting, aren't I, that you can _read _that brilliant mind, read it like a book. So now, you're going to plan 'B.' Which is _that,_" Just as I say it, two beams of light come over Dusk and I. "Ooh, aren't these pretty," I giggle, prodding the one surrounding me with a finger. Little bursts of electricity came out of the spot I touched it.

"These, also, kill if we make one wrong move. But I wonder, Master, have you ever considered this?" I slowed down my thoughts a little, which were buzzing all over the place, gave a meaningful glance at Delany, whose eyes were red and puffy, but still, she caught my gaze. I smiled encouragingly.

"Have you ever considered that maybe some people in this world don't love you? Don't rely on you as much as you think they do? Because guess what? They don't. Some of them, _some _of them, the ones with as brilliant of minds as mine, know the definition of the word freedom: a state in which somebody is able to act and live as he or she chooses, without being subject to any, or to any undue, restraints and restrictions. And _some _people, want that freedom so badly, they're willing to team up with the people they hate most to obtain it. And then wonderful things happen."

I could feel Delany's emerald gaze bearing into my thoughts, trying to figure out what message I was sending her. Trying to discover _why _I wanted her to know the definition of the word 'freedom.' _Because you don't have it,_ my thoughts whisper, and I pray she hears. _But you could. Just listen closely, and pay attention. _

"You're trying to stall," The Master growls. "Enough play! It's time for you to leave!"

I knew there was a double-meaning behind the word 'leave,' so I quickly improvised: "But you remember, Master, don't you? What's the one thing you never leave in a trap? Answer: The Doctor. Now, I could contact him, but I don't feel like doing that, because guess what else you never leave in a trap? Me. And the third thing you never leave in a trap? A sonic screwdriver. So what happens when you have _two _of me, _and _a sonic screwdriver?"

He just stares blankly at me. "Double trouble," I finish, and flick the sonic screwdriver at Dusk's beam of light.

I block out the screams of agony I hear from that side of the room, and quickly disable my shield. Running over to Delany, I grab her hand, smile, and whisper, "Do it. You're free. Just trust me."

She gives me one desperate look, and then slowly brings up her hand.

And just like that, at _exactly _the same moment as the Master shoots the futuristic gun at me, Delany snaps her fingers.

• • •

We land outside Ty's Torchwood base. I support her as she wobble a little, and then she starts laughing.

"We did it!" She cries. "Oh, we did it! Right when I could see what you were thinking, it reached me: I didn't _have _to stay with the Master. I could run. And I could help you, too! Well, I don't really like you, so I did it for Dusk! Oh, that was fun...the look on his face was so funny!" She smiles even wider at the thought. "Is...Is this what it feels like...to be happy?"

I smile back, and nod. "It's brilliant, isn't it?" I whisper.

"Amazing," She responds. "I...I love it."

She hesitates, and then continues, "I have to admit...you're not as bad as I thought you were. I miss being you, though. I remember everything you do, you know. I'm _part _of you."

I nod. "I know. But you can start a new life, you know. The Master can't find you...as long as you do your best to stay hidden."

She nods. "Oh...Okay. But...what will you do, now, I mean?"

"Die," I respond, shrugging.

"Because this is your dream, right? The other was Dusk's."

I nod. "I die in my dream, he dies in his. It was all a matter of timing. And you switched our location perfectly. Tell me, Delany...it _will _go back to normal, right?"

She nods. "It should."

"Good."

"Dawn...thank you. For everything. For a piece of rubbish, you aren't half bad," Delany giggles, and I smile.

"Right back at you," I respond, and after a slight hesitation, I wrap my arms around Delany in a tight hug. "Have a good life, kay?" I ask, pulling away. She nods.

"I will...I'll go around...find some people, travel...be you. Cause I like being you. You're always happy."

"_Usually _happy," I correct, and then, as she starts jogging away, I wave. "Be careful!"

"Yeah right!" Is the reply I hear as Delany runs off into the deep depths of New York City.

I smile, but soon drop it as I realize what I have to do next.

As a Dalek suddenly appears next to me, I whisper, "At least it will be fast."

I realize that Delany probably made it appear there. She knew I wanted this to be done quickly.

I blocked out the sounds of Dusk's scream that echoed in my ears. He was dead...in a sense. Yet also alive. _Very _alive.

Because if my hunch is correct, then being shot by a Dalek will definitely set everything back to normal.

I hope.

So I stood fearlessly in front of the Dalek, as my life in the past few weeks passed before me. Ty, Alice, Will, Cybermen, The Doctor, Angela, Amy, Mazai, Tenepiscus, Marth...Dusk.

And finally, the Dalek shot me, and I fell to the ground.

• • •

I woke with a start, and realized that _this _was definitely the correct world. I could feel it. Alice and Will were gone, too. I remember it very clearly now. The event was much like mine in the dream.

Looking around, I slowly stood up, and stretched. Cracked my fingers a few times. Waited for Dusk to come racing out of his room and yell, "Did that really just happen?"

I looked up at the ceiling, and whispered, "Sweetie, you can hear me, right?"

_Yes, _she replies.

_Good. I missed you. _

"Did that really just happen?" A familiar voice yells, and I hear a clatter in the hall. "Oops, sorry! Hope that hat rack wasn't important!"

I smile, and Dusk races up the console stairs.

I pretend to play dumb, and ask, "Did what just happen?"

"You mean you don't remember it?" He cries. "See, we were in this whole dream sequence thing, and Delany Mawn was there, she looked exactly like you, only she wasn't, and then there was the Master, and a big boom, and some whooshes, and some Daleks and their voices are really annoying, have you ever noticed that? Anyway, Daleks, parallel Muforam, and-you're playing dumb, aren't you?" He notices how I'm barely keeping my face straight, and I burst out laughing.

"Of course I remember, stupid," I giggle, smacking him lightly upside the head. "How could I forget?"

"So that really happened, then?" He ponders this for a few moments, and then points a finger accusingly at me. "You _killed _me!"

"I saved your life!" I correct.

"Still, you killed me!"

I roll my eyes, and he says, "Wait...you saved my life, didn't you?"

I nod.

"Fine. Now we're even from last time."

"No, I think you're still one up on me," I reason. "Let's see...there was the Muforam incident...you saved me there. I saved you from the Soul Stealer...one point for me. You saved me twice with the whole Cybermen and disease thing...course, I saved the whole ship...and now I saved you here."

I pause, and then continue, "Okay, I think we're even."

"Wait..." He trails off. "So...is Ty really...?"

I nod, frowning.

"And Delany...?"

"Oh, she's fine," I reply. "Better, actually. Probably having a blast in New York City."

"The Master?"

"Alive," I reply. "Somewhere out there."

"You're forgetting something," Dusk hints, and a confused expression crosses my face.

"What?"

He pulls me into a hug, and whispers in my ear, "Thanks."

**Aw... Gotta have my daily dose of fluff. ;)**

**So, did everyone like it? I sure hope so!**

**Sorry this chapter is a little bit shorter than the others...**

**I wanted to get this adventure done, because the next one will be EPIC.**

**I can't remember, have I told you the end of the story will be soon? Yeah, probably two, three more adventures. BUT DO NOT FEAR! "The Forgotten Child" is going to become a **_**series! -**_**Crowd goes 'OOOH'- ha ha ha. :D Anyway, there will be a sequel, and whatever a third book is called, and possibly a fourth.**

**But what does this mean for Dawn and Dusk?**

**That is for me to know, and you to find out...mu ha ha. **

**Remember that prophecy Nitero told us about?**

**It's coming back... ;)**

**And how about fifty-three, and who's the Red Snake? And why do those two words show up only at certain points in time?**

**Is there a **_**pattern? **_**GASP!**

**Send me your predictions! REVIEW!**


	22. Chapter 21: To Forget

**Hey my wonderful readers!**

**Have I mentioned that you are all brilliant? Well, if not, now I have! ;)**

**Anyway...I hope you all love this adventure...I think it's a little more dramatic than it is adventurous, and it's kind of my version of "Family of Blood," except it's a little different. But we all need some drama once in a while, right?**

**And oh yeah, the beginning may be a little confusing, especially because there is no "introduction" this time. So, just keep reading, and it will all make sense...I hope. :P**

**And about the whole "revolutionary war" thing that will be going on this chapter, please don't hate me if it sounds really bad...I'm American, so I don't know what the British point of view was. Heh heh. **

**Okay, ENJOY!**

**Dusk's POV-**

I heard a sudden gasp from Dawn, who was standing across the console from me.

Glancing over, I noticed she was holding her head in her hands, and looked like she was in pain.

I rushed to where she was standing, and asked, concerned, "What's wrong?"

"I-I don't know," Dawn replied, her voice just a little more than a whisper. "S-Something-ah!" She clutched at her stomach this time, and looked up at me with a peculiar expression on her face.

But that wasn't the strangest part of it. Her normally emerald eyes were now _golden. _

"Dawn," I murmur calmly. "Can you hear me?"

She nods, not breaking eye contact. Another gasp in pain. A shudder.

Jumping up in surprise, she starts racing around the console, pressing buttons and twirling bizarre tops I still haven't figured out the meaning of.

I stare at her, and my eyes narrow. "Please explain to me...what's going on?" The volume my voice rises a little at the end part.

"Uh...regeneration side effect," Dawn blurts out in a rush.

"What? But that was...a little more than a week ago!"

She nods. "Yes. But you've got to remember, I amthe _first_ half-human, half-time lady...well, there was Donna Noble, but she doesn't count. Anyway, there may be some weird things that happen to me we don't know about. And I _know _this one is a side effect, I can feel the venitle gas time vortex-y stuff flowing through me. So..." She gasps in pain again, and clutches her stomach.

"So what's happening, then? I mean, what's the side effect?" I ask, following her around the console.

"Uh...I lose my memory," She replies. "At least, that's what I'm guessing."

"What?" I cry. "How is that a side effect?"

She shrugs. "I can feel it ebbing away already...what did we do yesterday, again? Anyway, look, here's the deal: Something like this happened to my dad once. All we have to do is hide my Time Lady-ness in a necklace. For Time Lords, it's a watch. Okay, so I'll put it on the setting where the memory comes back to me gradually...probably four months tops."

"Four months?" I cry, even though I was more concerned for her than I.

"Don't worry...I'll use this thingy," she points to a strange looking helmet suspending from the ceiling. "It rearranges all of my body cells so that I look the same, but have a different past and think a tiny bit differently...and all that other stuff. Sweetie will land us in some random time on Earth...and I'll leave some monthly instructions for you on the console screen, over there. Got it?"

"Aren't you worried at all?" I ask, and she whirls around to face me.

"Jason James, I will not remember you, or the TARDIS, or any of our adventures. Not even my real name, which, by the way, I'd like my fake one to be Elizabeth. And there is a slight chance that something will go wrong. Now, even though that chance is _tiny, _it could still happen. Do you _think _I am worried?" Her voice rises in pitch at the last part, and I can see a tear glittering at the corner of her eye. She hastily wipes it away.

Sniffling, she adds, "I'm scared out of my wits, Dusk. But I don't want to regenerate again, no thanks. Besides, the same thing would happen."

I nod, and she looks up. I realize the "helmet" was lowering, and she grabs the handles attached to it and pulls it all the way down, buckling it securely to her head. Not before handing me her beret, of course.

"Take good care of that," She smiles slightly. "I don't want to lose it."

I nod. She pulls something out of a compartment of the helmet, and I realize it's a locket. The type that opens and closes, so that you can put pictures of someone inside. It was in the shape of a heart.

She lifted her hair off of her neck, and then began to fasten the locket around her neck. "Here, let me help," I mumble sheepishly, and walk around her, fastening the necklace while she holds her hair up.

"Thanks," Dawn whispers, and she smiles sadly at me.

"So...this is it, then? Four months?" I ask.

She nods. I pull her into my arms, and hug her tightly.

"I'll miss you," I whisper.

"You'll see me everyday," I reply. "Don't worry...you'll figure it all out. I'll probably be put with some family, and you'll be close by or something. I don't know. Sweetie will plan it all out for us, and I'll plan it with the whole helmet thingy, and...I'll leave instructions, too. Sweetie can telepathically record what I want to tell you, and I can leave it on the screen. Okay?"

I nod. "It...still won't be _you, _though. I mean, it will, but it won't. You know?"

She giggles, and then nods. "Yeah...but don't worry, I'll remember you sometimes. There will be these moments, where you'll do something that's so familiar to me, it triggers a memory. Like, when you do..._that._"

She points at my smile.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I love that smile," She replies, looking at her feet.

"Jason! _Jason!_" A fairly familiar voice suddenly calls, interrupting my dream.

My eyes flutter open to the sound of knocking on my door.

"Yes, Mrs. White?" I croak, my throat a little sore from not using it for a few hours.

"The store is opening in about an hour. Breakfast will be ready soon. Don't be late!"

I pull the covers of the bed over my head, and sigh.

That dream really _had _happened.

I couldn't believe it.

I was on month three, finally. Actually, the very end of month three, and already, I knew that Dawn's memory was quickly returning. Sometimes, she would say the smallest thing that told me Dawn was still in there...somewhere. One day, she even techno-babbled at the store, talking to me about the history of a package of brown sugar. Then, she gave me this strange look, like she didn't know what she was talking about, and rushed out of the store.

Anyway, the first day of this whole thing was weird. After listening to some instructions from Dawn, I had changed into some clothes from the colonial days (seventeen seventy-three, in December, to be exact), had carried Dawn out of the TARDIS, and placed her on a bench.

I kept a close watch on her for a while, until she finally woke up. Then, I followed her 'home' (Mr. White's house, I soon discovered later), where she got some remarks about the 'strange' clothing she was wearing.

Apparently, in the past she created, she's one of Mr. and Mrs. White's three children: Abby, Seth, and now Dawn (also known as Elizabeth). And _apparently, _I'm Mr. White's apprentice. For a general store.

Oh yeah, Sweetie. Thanks.

But I guess it works out well, if you think about it, because they provide all of the things I need: Food, clothes, and shelter. But most important, daily contact with Dawn. This, of course, is in exchange for my work, which starts at six, and ends at five. It's not _that _bad though. Mr. White really likes me, and apparently, I was hired a year ago. Mrs. White enjoys my company also, even young Abby finds it nice to have another person to play with while her brother is out tending to the two cows they have, and when Dawn is doing her 'young lady's training homework.'

The first week was kind of confusing, but I grew used to it after that.

It was, however, extremely hard to become closer to Dawn, because apparently 'Elizabeth' hadn't liked me in the past.

I wonder if Dawn did that on purpose, just to tease me.

Probably.

Within the first month, she finally started warming up to me. Now, we would have about one conversation a day, and sometimes she would even laugh.

Her personality was...interesting. She would smile often, and was very kind. Loves horses, and has one named Dusk (Ironic, right?). But there are other times when I think she's a different person. When we're alone, sometimes, I _know _Dawn is in there somewhere. But when she's around her mother and father...she changes. Becomes shyer. I don't really like it.

And even though Elizabeth was very much like Dawn, I still missed _her_.

Eventually, I shoved the covers off of my body, and opened the polished wood drawer that held my clothes in it.

The Whites were pretty rich, and had a two-story house. All of the bedrooms were on the second floor, and the kitchen, parlor, and dining room were on the first floor. It was well furnished, and decorated with several of Mrs. White's quilts and cross-stitch patterns.

When I was done changing, I did one final check over myself in the mirror, and headed out the door.

I heard little feet padding behind me, and a little voice whispered, "Jason! Jason!"

I turned around to see Abby running down the hallway, sucking her thumb.

Abby White was five, and had long, curly blond hair. She had big, bright blue eyes, and her pudgy face was perfectly shaped.

"What are you doing up so early?" I chuckle quietly, and ruffle her hair.

She squeals, and whispers, "I wanted to watch you and Father work!"

"Oh, it's very early though, isn't it?" I ask, crouching down to her height.

Abby nods. "Yes, Jason," She replies.

"But you should go back to bed," I murmur, putting my hand on her shoulder. "You can watch your Father and I work later."

Abby yawns, and whines, "But I'm not _ti-red!_"

"He is right, Abby," A familiar voice says from the other end of the hallway.

I look over Abby's shoulder to see Dawn leaning against the wall. The locket she wore around her neck glittered, even in the dim light. Her fiery red hair was tied in a neat, side low-ponytail. "You need to sleep, or else you will be very tired later, alright?"

Abby frowns in the dim light, and then nods. "Fine," She murmurs, and trudges slowly back to her room.

"Good morning, Elizabeth," I nod.

"Yes, good morning, Jason," She responds, smiling slightly.

"What are you doing up so early?" I ask.

"I decided to help Mother with breakfast," She shrugs. "And honestly, I couldn't sleep very well."

"That's too bad," I reply, and we walk down the stairs.

"Actually...I had a funny dream. You were in it, too," She smiles. "The whole thing was very strange...I was a time-traveler, and you were my companion. We traveled around in this red box, and met some aliens...I think one race was called the Mazai? Anyway, it was a very strange dream."

I smile brightly. "Sounds interesting." Oh, yes. She was definitely in there somewhere. I couldn't wait until her memory fully came back, we could get out of here, and start traveling around again.

She nods. "Yes. At the end...we...well...never mind. I think I will go help Mother now."

Dawn ducks her head, and scurries over to where her mother stood by the counter, chopping up some fruit.

_That _is when I don't like her.

"Ah, Jason, there you are!" Mr. White calls from the table. He was drinking a steaming cup of tea. "Good morning to you. Ready for work?"

I nod, and pull out the chair at my usual spot, which was next to him. "Yes sir," I reply.

"Good lad," He booms, patting me cheerfully on the back. I smile slightly.

It's not that I was _sad _here...I just didn't like it as much as being with Dawn, and going on adventures.

Mrs. White eventually brings me a cup of tea, and a plate with some biscuits and jam. I nod in a gesture of thanks, and she bustles back over to the stove.

"So, ma'boy, have you heard?" Mr. White nods at me.

"About what?"

"Those colonists, they've done it again!" Mr. White leans back in his chair. "Dumped good tea, into the harbor! Can you imagine? The _nerve!_"

He shakes his head in disgust, and crosses his arms.

I realized today must be December seventeenth, the day after the Boston Tea Party. Holy cow. That's pretty cool. I'm living at the time of the Boston Tea Party! This whole time traveling thing never ceases to amaze me.

"What do you think of the war, ma'boy? What'd your parents teach ya, eh?" Mr. White asks.

I shrug. Just before speaking my opinion, Mrs. White's voice quietly interrupts, "It's about time to open the shop, love."

I liked Mrs. White. She was always very kind to me, and not to mention a good cook, too. Her voice always made me feel calm and at peace, even if I was very stressed about being alone in this whole situation.

"Oh, look at the time!" Mr. White cries. "Come, Jason, we must leave!"

"I'll be there in a few minutes," I reply. "I think I'd like to go to the bathroom."

Mr. White shrugs. "Do what you must. Don't be late, though, or I'll dock ye pay!"

I nod, and scurry out the back door.

Funny how Mr. White hasn't yet noticed that I need to go to the bathroom everyday...same time...but never the same place.

Well, at least, not to him.

• • •

"Ello, Sweetie," I whisper, pulling the doors of the TARDIS closed behind me.

She had landed us in a forest, and I hid her behind some dead trees and logs. She was barely visible...unless you were specifically looking for her.

_Good morning, Jason. Nice to see a familiar face. Well...not see, but hear. _

I smile, and reply, "Yeah, right back at you. Well...if I could see your face."

Sweetie and I have become very close in the past few months. We both had one simple thing in common: We missed Dawn.

She did several things I asked, now. Like showing me the instructions Dawn created, or helping me understand how to live a life here without bending time in a different direction.

"Sweetie," I start. "Do you know when Dawn will finally come back?"

_Probably a week or so, _she replies.

"Good," I sigh, flopping down onto one of the chairs Dawn and I had placed by the console. A 'comfortable' crash landing, she called it. I smiled at the memory.

I pick up her old beret, which was on the other side of the chair. Fingering its soft, light blue fabric, I smile, and then wondering where she was hiding my mom's old bandana...maybe I'll ask her someday.

After a few more moments of daydreaming, I realize that Mr. White really _will _dock my pay.

"Well, guess I have to go," I shrug, standing up and stretching. "I just wanted to drop in and say hi...make sure you were okay."

_Have a good day, _she replies, and I could've sworn there was laughter in her voice.

"Bye!" I call as I exit the TARDIS.

This was going to be a long week...I could tell.

**Sorry...I don't like this chapter at all. :( It's basically the intro to an awesome, dramatic adventure. ;)**

**So, I have some questions to probe you wonderful predictors into reviewing...**

**Is this **_**really **_**a side effect of the regeneration, or something else?  
And **_**will **_**Dawn come back in one week? Or is something going to go wrong?**

**And where **_**is **_**Dawn hiding Dusk's mom's bandana? Is this information relivant?**

**Do I sound like a detective, or more like an advertisement announcer?**

**Will bubblegum chewing camels take over the world one day?**

**HOW MANY LICKS ARE IN A TOOTSIE POP? **Gasp****

**The world may never know!**

**REVIEW! :D**


	23. Chapter 22: Your Call

**Bleh. I'm sorry. I fail a updating.**

**But it's only been a week more than usual, right?**

**Anyway, it's cause I've been working on this new story lately, and my goal is to have the rough draft done by the end of the month. It's actually a competition thing on the internet. **

**Another reason is that I really don't like how I've set this chapter out. Sorry if it's awful. :( But the next chapter is EPIC. And because I've been gone longer than usual, guess what? I've decided I'm going to add to more adventures than I was planning to onto the story! Lucky you guys!**

**I am very motivated to get this adventure done with, now...you guys are going to LOVE the next book. But I think you'll hate me, too, for some of it. But I hope what I do doesn't cause you guys to stop reading. That would be sad. :(**

**Guess what? I decided to make this chapter a song-fic...ish. ;) So I DO NOT own the song "Your call," by Secondhand Serenade.**

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 22: Your Call**

**Dawn (Elizabeth's) POV-**

I had just finished helping mother do the dishes, and she had let me go outside for a while. It was evening; father and Jason would be coming home soon. Jason...he was an interesting boy. I feel differently about him than the rest of the young men I know. It is strange.

Last night, he was in one of my dreams. We were traveling through time and space, until we came here, and I had to forget all of it for some reason. I vaguely remember us having an adventure here, and at the end, we...well, never mind.

I love to run outside barefoot. Today, however, it was raining. I didn't mind at all, but mother told me to stay indoors. Of course, I had snuck out.

Only to see the cows in the stable, though. So this way, I wasn't completely disobeying her. She said to stay inside, but she didn't say which building I had to stay in.

Opening the stable door, I walked inside, a little damp. The door creaked slightly, and I shuddered. I had never gotten used to it making that noise. Hay was scattered across the floor, and the three cows my father owned were mooing. My horse, Chipper, and her tiny colt, Dusk, were playfully nudging each other.

I had come up with the name last month, when Dusk was born. Father said I could name him, as he was my horse's colt. Father usually rode Old Bessy, but I prefer horses much more. Chipper was technically my grandfather's, but when I had gone to visit him for the summer, I grew very attached to Chipper, and my grandfather let me take her home. Chipper was a black Arabian female, with a long, beautiful mane, and a well-brushed tail. I tended her often, and we were very close.

A scratching noise came from the hayloft, and I whipped around. There was nothing there. I laughed softly at myself. Lately, the smallest noises would scare me out of my skin.

I began to brush Chipper, murmuring softly to her about what was going on lately. She always seemed to like that.

Eventually, I moved on to her colt. Chipper was still a little uneasy when I got near Dusk, but she trusted me enough to let me brush her. I began to hum as I worked, but realized I didn't actually _know _the tune I was humming.

I just...hummed it. But knew exactly what was coming next.

The rain seemed to put my humming to a beat: _Pitter pitter, pat, pat, pitter, pitter, pat, pat. _

Suddenly, I heard a whistle. Looking over my shoulder, I didn't see anyone there, and decided it must've been my imagination. So, I continued to tend to Dusk, humming my unknown tune.

I eventually began _singing_. Somehow, _words_ came withthe tune. I felt like I knew it, but didn't, at the same time.

"Waiting for your...call I'm sick, call I'm angry, call I'm desperate for your voice, listening, to the song we used to sing..."

The song flowed out of my mouth like a fish swimming downstream.

"I was born...to tell you I love you...

"I am torn...to do what I have to...

"Make you mine. Stay with me tonight."

I stopped singing for a moment, because I had come across a knot while brushing Dusk. But when I realized someone _else _was still singing the unknown tune, my heart stopped momentarily.

I listened closely for a few seconds, letting the calm, soothing voice take over. The sense of hollowness that I had been feeling these past few days was suddenly filled, even if it was only for a few moments. My hand tightly gripped the cold locket that was strung around my neck.

The voice stopped. I wondered if I had been imagining things again.

Then the whistle came back. Somehow, I _knew _I wasn't imagining things, and walked toward the hayloft again, where the scratching noise and whistle had seemed to come from.

I peered through the cracks on the hayloft floor, or, in my case, the ceiling. I was at the edge of it, just a smidge underneath.

"Are you looking for me?" A familiar voice asks, and I whip around, having a mini heart attack.

Jason was hanging down from the hayloft, half of his body over the edge. His hair looked like it was falling to the floor, but stopped in time just before it fell off of his head. He was smiling hugely, and rocking back and forth a little, too.

I laugh softly at the way he looked, and then question, "I thought you weren't coming home for another half an hour?"

"Your father sent me here to look after the animals," Jason explains. "I was grabbing some hay from up here when I heard you come in." He pauses, and then adds, "Wow, I didn't know you could sing!"

I smile a little sheepishly, and then, in a flush of embarrassment, realize our faces were only a few inches apart. I take a small step back, and murmur, "Thanks."

"No problem," Jason replies. "So, how has your day been?"

"Good, I suppose," I shrug. "A day can't be too great if you're stuck inside all day doing the dishes."

"I guess not," Jason shrugs. "It was pretty busy at the store, too."

I nod, and watch as he wiggles around a little, and then swings down from the hayloft.

"Tell you what," Jason begins. "We both had a pretty busy day today, right? And the rain is letting up a little. After dinner, we'll sneak out of the house and we'll do some stuff outside. I know a really great place for looking at stars. What do you think?"

"Where would we be going?" I ask, a little excited.

"It's a surprise," Jason replies, smirking. Then, he continues, "You go back to the house...I'll finish up here. But do you want to go?"

I shrug, and reply, "It's a date."

His cheeks turn a red hue, and Jason nods. "Great."

**Yeah, I know, really short chapter...sorry 'bout that. But you gotta love the fluff! Plus, I wanted to give you guys a little chapter, just so you knew I hadn't disappeared off the planet or anything. ;)**

**So some of you probably loved this chapter (my DawnXDusk supporters out there! I love you guys! ;)), and some of you probably didn't like it much. Sorry about that, guys. Next chapter will be a little fluffy, too, and then we'll get back to the adventure part of this story. ;)**

**Now...I have a question: Are there any artists out there reading this story? If you guys want to, make some art for TFC! Or, give me a scene you would like to see! I think it would be really cool, just a fun thing to do. Maybe I'll even use it as an avatar on my profile... ;)**

**Here's a sneak peek!**

Fireflies buzzed around in the night, and I looked over at Elizabeth, taking in her appearance. The way her red hair shone in the moonlight, and her emerald eyes glowed...

Wait. This was wrong. Was I beginning to _like _Elizabeth? Like...in the wrong way?

No, never. This was wrong. I liked Dawn. Maybe I even l-never mind.

I realized Elizabeth was looking at me. "Thanks for taking me here," She murmurs. "It's beautiful."

I nod, and mumble, "So are you."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. I-I didn't say anything."

Woah. That had slipped out.

Oh gosh.

This was bad.

Really bad.

**MU HA HA HA! No, Dusk! You can't like Elizabeth, you like Dawn! Don't forget it!**

**Review!**

**P.S. In your review, please tell me if you would like to receive a PM when the next book in The Forgotten Child series comes out...I don't want you guys to lose track of Dawn and Dusk. ;)**


	24. Chapter 23: Fortune Teller

**Bleh...I just realized how much I hate this adventure. But it's really important (eventually), so I gotta write it...**sigh****

**One more tiny section of fluff, right here! Can you guys handle it? After that, this adventure will get a little more...adventurous. ;)**

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 23: An Unexpected Fortune Teller**

"Careful!" I cried, just before Elizabeth tripped on a stray branch. I grabbed her hand just before she fell, and then continued to guide her through the forest.

It was after dinner, and I was taking her to the _place, _just as I had promised. I had found it while going to visit Sweetie one day.

The _place _was a little hill, with a pond toward the bottom, surrounded by the forests. It gave you a perfect view of the moon and stars, which I had a feeling Elizabeth would like.

I held in a sigh, thinking of how much I missed Dawn.

Elizabeth had her eyes closed, because I wanted where we were going to be a surprise.

Eventually, we broke out of the woods, into the little clearing. I told Elizabeth to sit down, and she giggled, "Are we here?"

"Yup," I reply. "Go ahead and open your eyes."

I heard her gasp, and looked down at her amazed expression. The sun was setting, and showed off a brilliant glow off of the pond below. Birds were singing, and a few squirrels chattered in the trees.

The first few fireflies buzzed around in the sky, and I looked over at Elizabeth, taking in her appearance. The way her red hair shone in the sunlight, and her emerald eyes glowed...

Wait. This was wrong. Was I beginning to _like _Elizabeth? Like...in the wrong way?

No, never. This was wrong. I liked Dawn. Maybe I even l-never mind.

I realized Elizabeth was looking at me. "Thanks for taking me here," She murmurs. "It's beautiful."

I nod, and mumble, "So are you."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. I-I didn't say anything."

Woah. That had slipped out.

Oh gosh.

This was bad.

Really bad.

I sat down next to her, and she didn't speak. Instead, she pulled her knees up, and placed her chin on them.

_Dawn would have talked about some random planet where it was even more beautiful than this, _I thought, laughing on the inside. _See, of course you don't like Elizabeth like that! She just looks like Dawn. _

Still, as I looked over at her, I couldn't help thinking of how much she still resembled Dawn, even if she wasn't the crazy, insane, odd, wonderful, amazing, pretty alien I was used to.

I realized Elizabeth was looking at me, too. She leaned in a little, and I felt myself drawn toward her, as well.

_No! _A voice shouted in my head. _No, this is wrong! Stop it, stop it! _

She was so close now, I could feel her cool breath on my face. _Gosh, she's thirteen! _I thought. _That's pretty young! _

_She's also a genius, _another voice in my head whispered. _And probably more mature than me. _

Then, just before her lips touched mine, a scream sounded in the distance. I broke away from her, grateful for an excuse to let my mind argue a little longer, and looked around. "Who was that?" I ask.

Elizabeth's face was dark red, and she murmured, "It sounded like Abby."

Suddenly, I noticed the locket wasn't around her neck. And I mean _the _locket.

"Where's your locket?" I ask, pointing to her neck.

She shrugs, and explains, "I loaned it to Abby so she could play dress up."

"Oh no," I whisper. "No, no, no, no! This is not good!" I jump to my feet, and was back in the 'adventure' mode. No more arguing, no more Dawn...for a while, at least. She was on my mind often, I realized.

"Why?" Elizabeth asks, and she stands up with me.

"Well," I start, and then realized I couldn't explain. She wouldn't understand, and it might tamper with the memory, cause something bad to happen...

"It's just...bad. Believe me. You have to get that locket back. Come on!" I grab her hand, and we start running through the forest together, back toward her house.

• • •

We burst into the house, where Mr. White was sitting at the table, smoking a pipe. Mrs. White was bustling around the kitchen, working at the stove.

"Mother," Elizabeth begins. "Have you seen Abby?"

"Yes," Mrs. White replies. "She is upstairs, in her room. Is there a problem?"

We were already racing upstairs before Elizabeth could reply. I burst in through Abby's door.

She was sitting on the floor, playing with a teddy bear. But I could tell something was wrong. It was just that...feeling, I got now that I traveled with Dawn.

"Abby!" I exclaim, and she looks up.

"Why hello, Sir Jason," She replies, sounding professional. "Would you like to join Mr. Fluffers and I for some tea?"

"Uh, later," Elizabeth responds for me.

"Yeah...Abby, do you have the locket Elizabeth gave you earlier?" I ask.

"I gave it to Peter," Abby explains.

"Who's Peter?" I ask, confusion crossing my face.

"Peter," Abby giggles. "The man, hiding in my closet."

I glance at Elizabeth, and then walk slowly over to Abby's closet. It was pretty small, which made sense, because Abby was a very small girl. I opened the door just a crack, and peeked inside.

It was bigger. On the inside.

Three words: De. Jå. Vu.

From what I could see, the closet was a long hallway, made of metal.

I turned back around, closing the closet door, and asked Abby, "Have you ever looked inside your closet?"

She shrugs, and replies, "I never knew there was a closet, Jason. Peter told me there was, though."

I look at Elizabeth, who says, "I didn't know she had a closet, either. W-What is it, Jason?"

"A perception filter...maybe," I respond, thinking of Dawn and my adventure in Muforam, and how the Latia used perception filters on their trap doors in the pavement.

"Well, what do we do?"

"We go inside, of course."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Yes."

"So why are you doing it?"

"Danger can mean many things. If you look it up in _my _dictionary, it means fun!"

I walk back over to the closet, and step inside, but then peer out, and ask Elizabeth, "Are you coming?"

"You're insane," She whispers.

"No...I need the locket."

"Of course I'm coming with you."

I smile, and she follows me inside the door.

The hallway was made of metal, and there were several doors on each side of it.

I was debating which one to look for 'Peter,' the man who stole the locket, in, when I heard some robotic voices call, "INTRUDER, ALERT. INTRUDER, ALERT!" I whipped around, and saw some silver...people. Like androids, but silver.

"What do they mean, intruder alert?" Elizabeth asks, as I take her hand, running through the hallway.

"There's two ways you could define that," I begin, ducking to avoid a red laser beam. "One, it means there are people who aren't allowed here, in here. That would be us. Then there's _my _dictionary, once again: RUN!"

We reach the end of the door, and I stuff a hand in my pocket, fingering around for the silver metal screwdriver I was so glad I carried around these days...

"What do we do?" Elizabeth cries. "The door is locked!"

"This!" I reply, aiming the screwdriver at the door, and flicking the switch. _Click! _I open the door, push Elizabeth gently inside, and then slam it shut behind us.

I sigh, and slump against the door. "That should hold them...for a while, at least."

"What is that?" Elizabeth asks, pointing at the sonic screwdriver, while I investigate the room we were in.

It appeared to be a utility closet.

"A sonic screwdriver," I reply, pushing some cleaning stuff aside. Scowling, I realized there was no door, and I could already hear more metal feet clunking down the hallway.

"Funny," Elizabeth starts. "I had a dream last night where something like this happened. Actually, now that I think of it, it was _exactly _like this..."

"Really?" I ask, whipping around to face her. She was closer than I expected, but I ignored that thought.

"Yes," She nods. "The closet, the metal hallway...they were all in the dream."

"What about this?" I ask, gesturing around us.

She hesitates, and then nods slowly. "Yes," Elizabeth murmurs. "This was in the dream, also."

"Elizabeth," I murmur. "This is very, _very _important. It's possible that you could have been seeing the future in your dreams. I need you to remember what happened next."

"How is that possible?" She asks, and stares at me like I'm crazy.

"Just...trust me." I reply. "There are thousands of things in this world that aren't supposed to be possible, but they are. Now, please try to think. Remember...please."

She closes her eyes, and for a few seconds, she looks fine. But then, an expression of sheer pain crosses her face. Elizabeth clutches her head in her hands, and then her eyes flutter open. As soon as it had started, it was over.

"Up," She whispered. "Have you ever noticed that's the one place people never bother to look?"

My head snapped up, and I saw a vent shaft cover thing. "No way," I chuckled. "Classic...can't believe I didn't think of that."

I looked around, and saw a ladder. Pulling it over, I laughed, "And we're in a utility closet, too! A ladder! Ha, that's brilliant!"

"Dusk," Elizabeth suddenly whispers. I look over at her, and she looks like she's in pain. "My head," She whimpers. "It hurts."

I set the ladder down, and walk over to her. I grasp her shoulders, and murmur, "Are you remembering?"

Her eyes snap open, and she looks up at me. For a moment, our emerald and ocean eyes lock. I saw some of the shine come back into _Dawn's _eyes, but then, she closed her eyes again, and it was gone.

"I-I can see...things," She whispers. "Metal robots, and dying people, memories...wh-what is it?"

"I don't know," I shrug. It was _kind of _a lie. But I didn't actually _know _if her memories were coming back, or if something was just going wrong.

"There are voices, too," She murmurs, suddenly very serious. Her voice doesn't sound like it's in pain anymore. "A girl's. She's saying...it's not time, yet. Not time. Soon. But not yet."

"Dawn," I whisper, and for a split second, I paused. Joy overwhelmed me. She was coming! I was going to see her again! She was coming!

"Right," I say, and then continue pulling the ladder under the vent. "If your head starts hurting again, tell me."

Suddenly, a big clanking noise starts to sound, and I watch as dents are made in the metal door. "Up we go!" I flash Elizabeth a quick smile, and then start climbing up the ladder. Thankfully, the air vent was easy to move, thanks to the sonic screwdriver. It clattered to the floor once I was done opening it, and I heaved myself up into the vent, then helped Elizabeth up, too.

It was wide enough for both of us to quietly crawl side by side.

"Where are we going?" Elizabeth asks in a whisper.

"First, we escape," I explain. "Then, we find an unoccupied room, and start figuring out a plan to find the locket. By that time, the enemies will have tracked us down again, so we find another escape route, and then keep planning. Then, you'll do one of those...things. Where you just randomly come up with a plan. We hope."

"You make it sound like you've done this before," Elizabeth laughs.

"Uh, something like that," I reply, and then we run into the next air vent.

"Ah hah! Come on, back down again!"

**Urgh...I'm sorry. So short. But as I said before, I'm doing that other writing thing, so...yeah.**

**Anyway, I **_**really **_**hate this. I keep realizing that. Ha ha. I don't know why, I just think the adventure is kind of boring, and it isn't as good as I thought it would be.**

**But the ending will be epic. I hope. ;)**

**Anyway, I'm not going to give a sneak peek...sorry. Heh. I'm just really failing you guys, aren't I? I'm SORRY! But I promise, I have **_**big **_**plans for next adventure...and the one after that. Next adventure, someone special is involved. Or maybe **_**two **_**someone specials. ;) And after that...it's WESTERN TIME! :P**

**Anyway, please review! And forgive my rubbish writing this adventure...thanks. :)**


	25. Chapter 24: Out of Time

**Wow! Hey everyone! :)**

**I remembered I had to update today to keep my steady every-two-week update. So I'm going to write this chapter in one day. ;)**

**Guess what? The writing thing is over! But I'm still working on the other story, because it isn't done yet. BUT I will HOPEFULLY have more updates soon, because I don't have a certain word count I need to do each day. SO, my steady-update-EACH-week should be back on soon, I hope!**

**Also, I am cutting this adventure a little short. It's rubbish. I'm serious. I thought it would be awesome, and it's really not. Heh. :P So, this chapter will be much shorter and yucky than originally planned.**

**NOW that that's over with, I'm going to hopefully crank out this chapter so you guys can read it! I hope I haven't lost of all of my readers/reviewers cause of my terrible updating. :( Please forgive me!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter 25: Out of Time**

**Dusk's POV-**

We dropped down into the room from the air vents. It would have been pitch black, except for the various electronic computers, buttons, and other random things around us that were flashing.

In the middle of it all was a locket, floating in the air. It was engulfed in a single beam of light, and I didn't know where it was coming from.

Before I could stop her, Dawn ran up to the locket, and stretched her hand into the beam of light.

My eyes widened a little, and I watched as she froze, and what seemed to be an electric shock ran through her. Dawn fell to the floor.

My first question was if she were dead. I didn't have time to ponder this, though, because the robot guards were suddenly surrounding me, their guns cocked and ready.

Suddenly, a loud, sharp sound came from the opposite end of the room. I turned to see a tall, black haired man slowly clapping his hands. His eyes were emerald green, and I could see them from where I was standing three feet away.

The man broke through the circle of guards, smiling evilly.

"What did you do to her?" I ask, the anger clear in my voice.

"She's fine," The man replies, rolling his eyes. He was coming closer and closer to me, and when he was about a foot away, he stopped.

"Who are you?" I asked, my eyes narrowed in suspicion. I had a very strong feeling that this man was not on my side.

"Guess," The man laughs, and a look of realization crosses my face. "Yes, I am _Peter,_" He laughs. "Or at least, that's what I'm called in your silly language."

"I'm very impressed, Jason," Peter continues, his voice hard and cold. "Very, very impressed. You managed to keep her here, blend into this life quickly. Grew to like it, even. Live without your precious Dawn, and settle for Elizabeth." He pauses, and then adds, "It's too bad it will all go to waste."

"What do you want?" I growl, glaring at him.

"I don't _want _anything!" Peter laughs. "I will _have _it! And there is nothing you can do to stop me!"

"So, uh," I went back to my usual plan: Figure out the plan, _then _run. "What do you plan to do? I mean, if I'm going to die, then you might as well tell me what you're planning to do. Make me suffer more with your evil plans. What is it this time? Reproduce your alien race on earth, kill all humans living here, blow up the world?"

"Curiosity killed the cat," Peter snarls. "But I will tell you anyway."

He says something in a different language to one of his guards, who presses a button on his wrist, and a large, metal 'door' in front of me begins to open.

It was so bright at first, I had to squint to see anything at all around me. Then, as my eyes adjusted, I took a look at what was so bright.

Behind the door was a large...circle, with frayed edges. It had something swirling around the inside of it that looked something like Dawn had always described the Time Vortex to look like. There was golden dust flowing out of it, inside it, and around it, and I realized it was Venitle gas. Also known as: a golden piece of the time vortex.

But that's not all that caught my attention. In the middle of the 'circle,' there was a crack that looked like the one Dawn and I always chased, but this one was blue. I realized it was the one her father would always chase, and it erased things from time and space.

"This is a tear in the Time Vortex," Peter explains. "And in the center of it is a crack. Pieces of the Time Vortex are falling out, and being absorbed by the crack. Whole events in history are being erased!"

My eyes widened, and Peter continued, "But that's not all! I have learned to control the time vortex, to bend and alter it! Use it to kill others..." Peter smiles, and I was too shocked to try running. My feet wouldn't move.

Peter started glowing gold, and he shot a beam of the Time Vortex at me. As its killer energy coursed through my veins, I grimaced in pain. Now I understood: He planned on killing me with the power of the Time Vortex.

I painfully tried to shoot the rest of the beams he shot at me, but even the small bit he had managed to hit me with once was starting to take effect, and I was slowing down. I knew this was the end, I was going to die.

"You forgot one more thing, Dusk!" Peter laughed as I desperately tried to dodge. "I still have the locket!" And with this, he through the locket into the crack. _Dawn, _I thought. _No. _

I finally fell down to the ground, weak, and realized I had landed next to Dawn. Her big green eyes were open, and pain slashed across her beautiful features.

"Dusk," She whispered. I realized this was Dawn_. My _Dawn. She was back. Pieces of the Time Vortex were fluttering around her, and the cheerful light was returning to her eyes, even though she was in pain.

She smiled softly, and whispered, "Dusk...there was...one more thing that happened. In the dream. Before we...died. Well, I'm erased from time, and you die, but..." She trailed off.

I could feel the venitle fluid coursing through my veins even faster now. Pain cut into me, but I ignored it as Dawn scooted a little closer to me, grabbed my hand, and gently pushed her lips against mine.

Even though the pain that coursed through me was intense, the kiss threatened to make my heart stop all together. We were both so weak that it was very gentle, and innocent. Nothing more, but nothing less.

I felt Dawn go limp, and my eyes (which I hadn't realized had closed) opened. She was dead.

I didn't cry. I was even starting to lose some of the memories we had together. I simply closed my eyes, and waited to die.

But then, I felt something warm engulfing my body. My eyes slowly opened, and I realized there were nanogenes flowing around me. _It doesn't matter, _I told Nitero. _Dawn was erased from time, so everyone will probably perish over the Cybermen or Daleks or something. And I'm about to die. _

_It does matter, _Nitero replies. _Sleep now, young one. Sleep in peace..._

And I did. Slowly my eyes closed, and I took a last, shuddering breath before exhaustion took over.

• • •

Suddenly, my eyes opened. At first, I couldn't remember where I was.

But then the memories flooded back: Peter, Abby, Boston Tea Party...

So if I had died there...why was I in my bedroom in the TARDIS?

I realized it didn't matter, because if I was alive somehow, it's possible Dawn would be, too.

My heart thudding, I sprinted to the console room, and into Dawn's room, not bothering to knock. It was nighttime, anyway, so she would probably be asleep by now. _If _she was still alive.

The bed was empty. This thought repeated in my head about five more times, as I tried to make sense of it. She was...gone?

"Dusk?" A familiar voice asked. "What are you doing in my room?"

I whipped around, and saw Dawn standing by the door. I ran over to her, and squeezed her tightly in my arms.

"Dawn," I whispered. "You're okay." I stopped hugging her, but held her shoulders at arms length, taking in her confused expression.

"Yeah..." She trailed off, and then asked, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You mean you don't remember?" I ask, and now _I _was the confused one.

"Remember what?"

"You know, we were in the Revolution, and Peter was there, with Abby, and we-," I stopped abruptly at the thought of us kissing. Maybe it was best _not _to mention that part, if she didn't remember. Maybe the kiss was just something to say goodbye. Like a hug, but she was too weak to actually hug me.

"No...should I?" Dawn asks.

"Sweetie!" I call, looking up for some reason. "Don't you remember any of it?"

_Yes. All of it. _Sweetie replies. _You're the one that called me to land on top of both of you, and then go away again. _

"I did?" I ask, and Dawn gives me a funny look. I realize Sweetie was only talking to me. "So...how come Dawn doesn't remember?"

_Do you remember how the tear in time had a crack in the middle of it? _

I nod.

_One of the pieces of the Time Vortex that was floating around it was _that _point in time. The one you were just in. The whole event that just occurred, starting with when Dawn lost her memory, doesn't exist anymore. It never happened. _

"Well that's lucky," I mumbled, but then asked a little louder, "So how come you and I can still remember it? Why not Dawn?"

_I have a separate Time Vortex living inside of me, _Sweetie explains. _Of all events that could, couldn't, or have happened. The cracks don't affect me. Dawn can't remember because the same piece of time from the Time Vortex inside of her was absorbed by the crack, also. I'm not sure, though, why you _can _remember it. _

"That's weird..." I whispered. "So has three months still gone by? Or have we...backtracked?"

"Three months!" Dawn cried. "How much did I miss?"

I ignored her as Sweetie answered, _Yes. Three months have still gone by. _

"Are you going to tell her what happened?"

_No. _

"Why?"

_It will affect future events that are supposed to happen. _

"Oh...what should I tell her?"

"It's fine, Dusk," Dawn interrupts, shrugging. "You don't have to tell me anything. I understand that there are things in this world that even I, the wonderful, amazing Dawn Melody does not understand." She snorts, and then adds, "Even if somehow there is now a whole block of time missing from my head...did anything too important happen?"

"N-No," I stutter. "Nothing too important." _Yeah, nothing _too_ important. You just missed something _really_ important, _I thought, smiling a little.

"Okay," Dawn shrugs, but I could tell she was still a little suspicious. "So we can just...go back to adventures, right?"

"Definitely!" I reply. "It's been too long...never take me on an adventure that will take three months again."

I start walking toward the console room, and ask, "So, where do you think we'll go now? The future? Rome? Ancient Greece? How about a new planet?"

"Uh, Dusk," Dawn giggles. "How about we go to planet sleep-until-morning?"

"Where's that?" I ask.

"Bed," Dawn replies, laughing. Just before she closes the door, she says, "Goodnight, Dusk."

I slept in peace that night, knowing that tomorrow, everything would be back to normal...well, as normal as it gets when you're traveling with a Time Lady.

**YES! IT'S DONE! :D**

**Okay...the ending was so-so, right? I meant for it to be better, but...yeah.**

**And do you understand what happened? Did I make it clear enough? If not, shoot me a PM with your questions and what you think I should add to help you guys understand more.**

**Yay, FINALLY get to move on. You guys don't know how exciting that is for me. I have so many good plans for this book. :D**

**Anyway, review, please! **


	26. Chapter 25: Awakening

**Okay...It's Friday night, and I'm going to try really hard to get this up TONIGHT, because I'm serious, the rest of my weekend is CRAZY so I won't be able to update. So this chapter will probably be really short.**

**Anyway, someone made me realize I kind of made it sound like last chapter was the last chapter of the story. It was NOT! The story will keep going for quite a few more chapters. SO...yeah. :)**

**Anyway, one of my FAVORTIE character(s) are arriving/coming back this adventure! YES! :P**

**By the way, this adventure is set somewhere between the two-part Weeping Angel episodes and The Big Bang.**

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 25: Awakening**

**Dawn's POV-**

"So you're _sure _I didn't miss anything?"

"Honestly, Dawn, all that happened was there was a side effect or something to your regeneration, and you lost your memory for a while...I think you said it happened to your dad once. Anyway, we stayed in the seventeen hundreds for three months, and there were some aliens there at the end, but we fought them. And then Nitero apparently asked Sweetie to land where we were after we chased them away, because I was knocked out...so. Yeah. Really, nothing important."

"Sounds like a lot to me."

Dusk and I were in the TARDIS, and it was the day after I had...woken up, as Dusk put it.

"Really, Dawn," Dusk laughs, shaking his head. He was smiling brightly at me from across the console, but the smile didn't reach his ocean blue eyes. "Nothing happened, I promise." He was lying, and I knew it, too.

"Okay, but if I find a strange alien in my closet, I'm coming to you," I giggled, letting go of the tiny string of tension between us. I was just glad to be back. It _did _feel like I had been gone for a long time. I could remember the last adventure we had (the dream thing, with Delany), but it still felt like there was a big empty space in my life. It was very strange.

"So, where are we going next?" Dusk asks, pulling a lever down after I pointed to it.

"See, that's the thing," I began in a murmur, staring down at the console. "I was looking at my journal last night, and we ran out of pages with my handwriting. It's gone back to my Mum's. Which means I probably hid the rest of our adventures in some other journal."

"So we're on our own now?" Dusk asks, a small frown on his face. "No reference to where we're going to go next, or what alien we're going to see?"

"Nope," I reply, popping the 'p.'

"So we're in even _more _danger than usual?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome!"

I laughed, and smiled up at him. We were standing next to each other now, leaning against the console.

"I missed you," He murmured suddenly, and I looked directly into his soft, blue eyes. "You weren't..._you. _I thought I liked the new you as much as the old you, but...now that you're here..."

I placed a hand on his mouth, smiling softly. "You talk too much," I giggle. It was funny to see Dusk, of all people, at a loss of words.

When I removed my hand from his mouth, we were both back to our bouncy, child-ish selves.

"So, if you don't _know _where we're supposed to go, where _are _we going?" Dusk asks, pushing a yellow button that, once again, I gestured for him to press.

"We-ell," I paused, and then applied a bunch of force to a stiff, green button. Sweetie made some funky noises, lurched, jerked up, and then dropped. Dusk and I rolled around on the floor as she tipped, laughing.

Eventually, the lurching motions stopped, and we slowly stood up, gripping the console for support. I ran a hand through my fiery red hair, still giggling softly.

"What was that?" Dusk asks, a confused look on his face.

"I call it the randomizer," I explain. "One minute we're flying into Earth, seventeen hundreds, the next..." I pulled Sweetie's computer screen over to where Dusk and I were standing, and gestured to the stars and planets we were in the middle of. One of the planets was flashing red.

"There," I explain, pointing to the planet. "We're here...Skagan. Weird name, great planet. Home of the Limiopan. They're quite a bit like humans. And a little like me, too, because they look human on the outside but have alien genetics on the inside. It also has one of the biggest international jails on this side of the galaxy, so we're bound to find something here."

I was already walking toward the door, thankful that I had worn shorts and a t-shirt today. And, of course, my sky blue beret. Dusk was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, also, and his hair looked even more rumpled than usual. I smiled slightly at that thought.

"How about the weather?" Dusk asks.

"Like the middle of July on Earth," I replied quickly, and after a deep breath, flung open the doors of the TARDIS.

As soon as I did, I regretted it.

The sky had a yellow-gray tint to it, and clouds drearily hung in the air. There were spaceships flying everywhere, like normal, but most of them looked like they were about to fall apart. Several people walked along the streets, which were covered in dust, and most of them were frowning and quickly walking, as if running away from something. Guards surrounded each and every building, covered in an advanced red armor.

"This isn't right," I murmured. "This isn't right at all."

"What's wrong?" Dusk asks, looking over at me, and I couldn't help letting out a grunt of amusement at the excitement that lit up his eyes.

"So think of...uh...Manchester, in England. And add some spaceships and other techy stuff. It's a sunny day, everyone is smiling, and all of the little kids are out riding on their futuristic motorcycles or something."

Dusk nods, and so I continue, "_That's _what Skagan is supposed to look like."

"Whoa," Dusk murmurs, looking around. I nod.

"Yeah. Whoa."

"Want to go figure out what's up?"

"I was waiting for you to ask that."

**So yeah, it's really short. I fail. But HOPEFULLY, this will be my last week of epic fails. Honestly, I'm sorry my directors of various choir/band programs decided to cram all of my concerts into one week/weekend. ;P**

**ANYWAY. I fail. I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Did you like the **kind of** excitement in this chapter? It was basically supposed to give you an idea of what's going to be going on next chapter. And to give myself an excuse to write that Author's note at the beginning. :) **

**SO. I DO have a sneak peek for you this time! yay! It's subject to change though...ha ha.**

"I like to call them Shadies," Lexie explains. "Some people call them 'Ancient Organisms of Darkness,' but I think that's a really long title. Besides, Shadies sounds way cooler _and _cuter."

"I'm not sure they're all that cute," Dusk cuts in, and I snort at the comment.

"Too bad! I think they are!" She tosses me a large gun, which I catch a little friskily. "Now, take this gun, and go catch one for me. Got it?"

"I don't do guns," I reply, shrugging, and giving her the gun back.

"I get it," Lexie replies, shrugging. "I didn't start using guns 'til Ty taught me they were the only way to go."

"Ty?" I question, and a confused expression crosses my futures.

She doesn't reply, but instead hands Dusk a gun. He looks pleadingly at me, and I couldn't resist, so I gestured toward the door.

"He was my friend," Lexie explains. "Crush, actually. But I don't think he liked me back. He always was a loner."

"Who?"

"Ty."

"Oh."

"Yeah...we used to work in this thing together, with our other friends. Called it Torchwood. He never told me why, but-"TY!" I exclaim, slapping a hand to my forehead.

Lexie looks at me strangely.

"Ty, black hair...uh, good with guns? Blue sweatshirt?"

"You know him?" Lexie asks eagerly. "Where is he? Have you seen him? We were separated, in this-," She notices the sad expression my face, and then asks, "What's wrong?"

"He's...uh...he's dead," I explain a little awkwardly.

Lexie snorts, and replies, "Oh, gosh, how'd he die this time? Slitheen? Cybermen? Nuclear explosion? He's _so _reckless."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You know Captain Jack Harkness?"

"Yeah..."

"That's his dad. He inherited the good looks, _and _the lives."

"What?"

**Ooh, long sneak peek. ;) And Lexie isn't the **_**only **_**new character in this adventure! There are two more coming...one we've seen before, one we haven't. And I'm sure you're very excited to know who **_**they **_**are, but you have to review and motivate me first! ;) Send me your predictions, too! :D**


	27. Chapter 26: Shadies

**Hey guys! :D**

**I'm starting a full-length, not rubbish chapter today for the first time in a LONG time! This whole Christmas season has been WAY to busy. **

**Speaking of Christmas...there will be another Christmas special soon. But it might come AFTER Christmas, because I fail like that. ;P It's also very possible that I might publish it a little before Christmas, too, though, because of the time I will have on vacation (break)! So...keep your fingers crossed that I will have a burst of inspiration for the Christmas special! **

**Speaking of this, has anyone seen the new Doctor Who clips for the up-coming Christmas Special on TV? It's called 'A Christmas Carol,' I believe. I've been doing some snooping around the internet here in America, and have found some of the preview clips very exciting. I cannot WAIT to see my beloved Matt Smith again! :D ha ha ha! **

**Anyway...sorry about the really long author's note. I'm just in a great mood today. :)**

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 26: Shadies**

**Dawn's POV-**

I licked a finger, and held it up in the air, searching for a draft.

"What are you doing?" Dusk asks, smiling idiotically.

"Trying to act all professional. And you're ruining it!" I whine, and then giggle a little. "Now shut up, I'm thinking."

We were walking down the pavement, but to the side a little, so that not as many of the frantic people rushing down the street bumped into us.

"What are you looking for?" Dusk asks, ignoring my request for him to _not _ask questions for once. I'd miss him if I had no one to show off my knowledge to, of course, so I _guess _it's okay that he asks pointless questions sometimes.

"Any sign of trouble," I reply, pivoting on my feet to walk backwards and face him. "I don't quite understand why there are guards everywhere. And the sky is yellow...that's one of the strangest parts, to me."

Dusk shrugs, and asks, "Couldn't we just ask someone?"

I roll my eyes, and reply, "But that's no _fun! _It's all in the investigating that makes this stuff enjoyable!"

"And then there's the running, and taking out aliens with our amazing yet crazy plans," Dusk adds.

"The running and planning, that too," I giggle. "The other good part. We've got to face it now, Dusk: We don't find trouble. For some reason, it comes to us! All we have to do is wait."

Dusk smiles, looks over my shoulder, and replies, "Looks like we won't have to wait all that long!"

I whip around to see a girl, probably my age but taller, thinner, and more mature (what a girl my age _should _look like...I'm short and immature looking) running down the street, light brown hair flying behind her. I could see that she had a strong grip on a silver, basic Skagan gun. I glanced at Dusk, and we both began chasing her.

One thing was for sure: she was _fast. _And I couldn't tell if she was running _away _from something, or toward it. These questions ran through my brain as Dusk and I continued our chase.

She was looking down at something as she ran down the street, and I couldn't help but wonder what it was.

"As I said before," Dusk laughed a little breathlessly. "The running. My favorite part!"

I smiled at him. _It feels good to be back, _I thought, even though I couldn't really remember being gone.

The girl had stopped running at the corner of the street we were on, which met up with another street that intersected it. Surprisingly, she didn't lift the silver gun that she carried.

As Dusk and I caught up, we slowed to a walk. The girl was simply staring down the road, which ended at the brick wall of a building. Her eyes darted around the alley, and she was in a poised position, ready to raise her gun.

"Sorry, but can I ask what you're looking at?" I asked, killing the silent and concentrated ambience.

"Shh," The girl replies, glancing over at me. I was about to open my mouth and ask another question, but she slowly put a finger to her lips. I closed my mouth again, and watched as she slowly took one step forward, and then stomped on the ground with her foot. I watched in amazement as a black, sticky liquid gushed out beneath her dusty tennis shoe. She slipped the shoe off, leaving it in the pile of black muck.

"Is that a-"SHH!" The girl interrupts once again, and I hear a snort from Dusk, who was next to me. I elbow him in the ribs, and can't help but smile slightly when a grunt of pain escapes his lips.

The process repeats, only she steps in a different spot this time, with a different shoe, so that by the time she was done, the girl was left with only socks on her feet.

While I watched this, I realized she was stepping on a tiny, black spider. My eyebrows creased, and I cautiously looked over at the girl. She nodded, gesturing for me to speak.

"Are you scared of spiders?" I ask, as the girl wiped her hands on her jean shorts. Her skin had been tanned by countless hours in the sun, and her brown eyes were soft and sharp at the same time.

"Ah, so you know about the Shadies, too?" The girl asks, and she smiles. I gave her a confused look, to which she shakes her head.

"I like to call them Shadies," She explains. "Some people call them 'Ancient Organisms of Darkness,' but I think that's a really long title. Besides, Shadies sounds way cooler _and _cuter."

"I'm not sure they're all that cute," Dusk cuts in, and I snort at the comment.

"Too bad! I think they are! Sometimes." The girl replies, smiling sheepishly. "I'm Lexie, by the way. Not many people know about 'em. How'd you find out?"

"Uh...Aliens. Stuff. Kind of my life," I reply, and shrug.

"Oh, believe me," Lexie laughs. "I've met _those _type of people before! Actually...I am one. Are you new around here? Most of the alien types are wanderers."

I was glad she was making this easy for me, and I replied, "Yeah, we're new," I reply, gesturing with my hand to myself and Dusk. "I'm Dawn. And this is Dusk."

"Ooh, cool names," Lexie smiles, and asks, "So, what brought you here?"

"Well, uh...alien. Stuff. I was going to show Dusk around Skagway, because he's kind of new to the whole alien thing, but when I realized it was looking like this..." I trailed off, looking around. "We figured we stay around for a while and do some investigating."

"So you don't know much," Lexie states, and Dusk and I nod. "Well, come on then. I'll show you my base. Actually, it's right here! I think the Shadies were trying to break in..."

She leads us over to a metal door I hadn't noticed before that was in the brick wall, and punches in a few buttons on a pass-code-thingy on the door. Then, she leads us inside a dark hallway that smelled like a sewer.

"Anyway, I'm sure you want to know what's been going on. See, I arrived here about a month ago. Separated from my crew..." She trails off a little, and then continues, "But anyway! I noticed that something was wrong, too. So I did some research—well, I'll be honest, I actually broke into the main government building and hacked into the news file systems."

"That's our way of doing things, too," Dusk chuckles, and I could almost _hear _Lexie smile in the darkness.

As she continued to lead us down the long, murky hallway, Lexie also continued to explain.

"Anyway, I figured out that the Shadies were here. Took a bunch of hacking, though...they're after something. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but they're after something. Why else would they break into homes and buildings?"

"So that's why there were guards standing everywhere!" Dusk exclaims, and I shake my head. "Sorry," He laughs. "Keep going."

"Everyone's scared of them," Lexie continues. "Well, I guess they should be. Shadies conceal their true forms, that black muck stuff, by becoming what people fear. Thing is these Shadies are _real. _So...say you were to start thinking about how much you're scared that one of your relatives will die. If a Shady were to be around you, then they would become that dead relative, probably on the ground, dead. But that also means that the real relative would be dead, too."

"That's weird," I murmured. "I've never heard of them...operating...like that. They've always just faked stuff, not actually taken up the _real _form of things."

"I know," Lexie says. "That's one of the things that has me worried."

"They're everywhere, too!" She exclaims. "Way too many for me to handle by myself. I've found a crew, though...they came about a week ago. Real nice. You'll be able to meet them in a little bit. But first..." She pauses, and I realize that it was starting to get a little lighter in the hallway, a little less messy, and a little less... was a silver crate on the right side of us, and a silver door on the left.

"I was tracking some more Shadies outside...they should be in the back of the building right now. You guys want to help hunt them down for me?"

She tosses me a large gun, which I catch a little friskily. "I don't do guns," I reply, shrugging, and give it back to her.

"I get it," Lexie replies, shrugging. "I didn't start using guns 'til Ty taught me they were the only way to go."

"Ty?" I question, and a confused expression crosses my features.

She doesn't reply, but instead hands Dusk a gun. He looks pleadingly at me, and I couldn't resist, so I gestured toward the door.

"Think of something simple that you're scared of! Like...squirrels! Then point the gun at it and press the trigger!" I shout as he runs back toward the door.

I hear his voice in the distance reply, "How did you know I was scared of squirrels?" I laugh, shaking my head.

Lexie was digging through the gun box, and I leaned against the brick wall, wondering what was behind that silver door. Probably 'headquarters.'

"He was my friend," Lexie suddenly says. "Crush, actually. But I don't think he liked me back. He always was a loner."

"Who?"

"Ty."

"Oh."

"Yeah...we used to work in this thing together, with our other friends. Called it Torchwood. He never told me why, but-"TY!" I exclaim, slapping a hand to my forehead.

Lexie looks at me strangely.

"Ty, black hair...uh, good with guns? Blue sweatshirt?"

"You know him?" Lexie asks eagerly. "Where is he? Have you seen him? We were separated, because of this thing that-," She notices the sad expression my face, and then asks, "What's wrong?"

"He's...uh...he's dead," I explain a little awkwardly, and squirm a little under her gaze. I stare at my feet.

Lexie snorts, and replies, "Oh, gosh, how'd he die _this_ time? Slitheen? Cybermen? Nuclear explosion? He's _so _reckless."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Ever heard of Captain Jack Harkness? Most goodalien hunters have."

"Yeah!" I exclaim, thinking of the story that Mum had told me once when I was very young. She had told me the story of the way Jack and my father met so many times that I could probably quote some of the things they had said.

"He's Ty's dad. Ty inherited the good looks, _and _the lives." Lexie smirks, while I gasp.

"What?" I cry, my eyes widening.

"Yeah...he dies all the time," Lexie giggles. "Sounds kind of funny, but it's true. The worst part is that Jack doesn't know Ty is even in existence. You know him...the ladies man. Ty said his mom told him that the relationship was short but sweet."

We were silent for a few moments. I let all of what she had just told me sink in.

"Last time I saw him, he was in New York City, in America," I say after a few moments. "But he fixed a vortex manipulator up, so he could be anywhere by now."

"It's fine," Lexie replies. "I have one, too. See?" She holds out her wrist, and I could see the device was in rough shape, but a little light on the side of it signaled to me that it was working.

"You guys really shouldn't be using those," I laugh, shaking my head. "Cheap time travel. They break too easily."

After another pause, I ask, "So how _did _you get separated?"

She smiles sheepishly, and replies, "There were four of us: Me, him, and two others. Didn't like them much...honestly, they only stuck around for a while. I think Ty and I were better off when they left. Anyway, we were investigating in Chicago, in America. We found this...thing. A red crack. And I guess I got too close, because the next thing I know I'm in Chanatopia! The vortex manipulator was busted, and when I finally fixed it and went back to Chicago, there was no trace of Ty."

"That's what I thought," I murmured. "About the cracks, I mean. Dusk and I have been investigating them lately, too. They send you to a random place in time and space. They also have a twin brother...blue cracks. Stay away from those, they-"Erase you completely out of time and space," Lexie interrupts. "Yeah...the new guy in my crew told me."

"Someone who knows about the cracks," I murmured. "I think I'd like to meet this crew of yours."

"Great!" Lexie exclaimed. "Around this time I should be getting an update from them. They're trying to invent some machine or something, said it would help fight off all of the Shadies."

She turned around to face the silver door, and entered in the pass code.

"There are four of us, again. All older than me, though...two of them are geniuses, but they argue a lot. And then there's the ginger, who asks lots of questions. Typical for gingers, of course." Then, Lexie glances at my fiery red hair, and adds, "No offense."

"Some taken!" I reply, but smile despite the comment.

Lexie giggles slightly, and then leads me into headquarters.

**YAY! :D I'm going to update!**

**And then I'm going to start the next chapter right away. Because I'm in the writing mood today, and I'm on my HOLIDAY! YAY! **

**Anyway...I know some of you think Ty and Captain Jack are coming this chapter. Have any of you changed your minds yet? Just curious.**

**Send me your predictions of what's going to happen in the future, guys! I love reading them, and I haven't gotten many yet! :( Here are some topics to ponder:**

**Dawn and Dusk's future...? Friends...or not?**

**The prophecy Nitero told Dawn way back when?**

**53? Red Snake?**

**Hm...so many questions. **

**Anyway, no preview this time. Because I'm a meanie. ;P But please, review! I love you all! (In a friendly way. ;))**


	28. Chapter 27: A Chance Encounter

**Dude...I like this adventure. :D It's kind of fun to write. **

**You get to meet the 'mystery people' this chapter! ;)**

**Gosh, guys...chapter 27. Now THAT is scary. :D**

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 27: A Chance Encounter**

**Dawn's POV-**

Headquarters was pretty snazzy, actually. Computers with flashing lights lined the walls, with four facing each other in the center. The walls were brick, like outside, and the floor was—to my surprise—wooden. There were two more silver doors to the left, one in the north end of the room, and one door on the right. The whole room was about as big as my console room, without the stairs and various 'mini-floors.'

"That door leads to the laboratory, where the two 'arguers' are working...I'll introduce you in a minute," Lexie explains, pointing to one of the doors on the left. "And the one next to that is the guest room...it's really quite large. I have my three assistants in there right now, and there will probably be room for you and Dusk, too. Course, the ginger and the mad man never really stay in there. Said something about a spaceship..." She trails off, and then turns to the door on the left. "And that's my room. Down the hall is a kitchen, where I eat...and the other three eat. Sometimes." She turns once more, and finishes, "That last door leads outside. If your friend is having any luck, he'll have killed all the squirrels—Shadies—by now."

Suddenly, we heard a very familiar scream from outside. I rolled my eyes, and turned to Lexie, giggling, "That'll be him...he's deathly afraid of squirrels...maybe I should have told him something much simpler, like his fear of snowmen. Or lawyers."

Lexie was laughing, and I quickly asked if I could go check on him. She nodded toward the door.

I raced outside. Hopefully, it really _was _squirrels that had him yelling, not something more serious.

It was hard to keep from laughing when I saw the scene outside. Dusk was hanging from a tall tree branch, and two squirrels were nibbling at his fingers. The gun Lexie had loaned to him was on the ground beneath his feet.

"You're an idiot!" I laughed, racing over to grab the gun.

"Just get me down!" Dusk cried, and I could hear the fear in his voice. A small giggle escaped my lips, and Dusk glared down at me. I grabbed onto his legs, which I still had to stand on tippy-toes to reach, but it worked. He let go of the branch, but I wasn't strong enough to hold him up by his legs, and we both tumbled onto the ground, me on top of him. My face was red with laughter, and so was his. It was one of those priceless moments where you are laughing so hard you can't breathe.

I eventually flopped off of him, and onto the ground. Raising a finger to point at the squirrels that were still on the tree, who were looking a little stumped, I giggled, "We still have some squirrels to take care of. Did you grab the gun?"

"It's kind of hard to when there's a thirteen-year-old ginger on top of you," Dusk chuckles, and crawls over to grab the gun. He then points it up at the branch, and presses the trigger. A green beam flies out of it, and cuts the branch so that it falls, and lands on top of the squirrels. They are then squashed into the black, mucky stuff.

"Well done," I laughed as he helped me off of the ground. I dusted off my shorts, still giggling.

"How did you know I was scared of squirrels, anyway?" Dusk asks.

"You talk in your sleep," I giggled, and then continued in a mocking voice, "No, Mr. Squirrelypants, you can't eat me! I'm nice! Nooooo!"

"No way!" Dusk cries. "You know about Mr. Squirrelypants?"

I burst out laughing again. "Uh huh. I _totally _have some black mail on you..."

"And I have some on you!" Dusk laughs, pointing an accusing finger at me. "You listen to me while I sleep! Omigosh, I have a _stalker!_"

"Correction: I only heard you that one day I had to wake you up because you were sleeping so late...if I had waited any longer, you would have missed the super nova, remember?"

"Oh...crap. I thought I finally had something on you."

I was about to reply, when a hauntingly familiar, robot voice shouted, "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

In a split second, I had tackled Dusk to the ground again, just as a beam of blue brushed a strand of my hair.

I rolled onto the ground, and then sprang back up, ignoring the pain that shot up my rib cage.

The Dalek was hidden, because I couldn't see it. I wonder if Dusk had thought of the fear first, because the thought of a Dalek hadn't crossed my mind.

"Dusk," I murmured, looking down at him. "Don't even _think _about it. Think about something else. Something worse."

We both knew I wasn't talking about the Dalek. We were talking about _me. _He had seen me get shot, and even though it had only hit a tiny strand of my hair, it could still be fatal. If he thought about me in a bad condition...if that were to be a _fear _of his, then things would get messy. The Shady would take over my body and _make _the Dalek shot fatal.

"Dusk!" I cried, kneeling down so that I was next to him. He hadn't stood up yet after I had tackled him to the ground. "Look. I'm fine. I'm here. I'm not in _any _pain. At all. Think of squirrels."

"Dawn," Dusk whispered. "I didn't think of the Dalek."

I was about to reply, when the meaning of his words sunk in.

Either the Dalek was real, or someone who knew about Daleks was close to us.

Both options put us in danger.

I squeezed my eyes shut, and focused on one thing that I was terrified of, but was definitely less dangerous than a Dalek.

The Dalek's cry was suddenly cut off by the sound of barking.

"Was that you?" Dusk asks in a whisper as I dragged him behind the shelter of some bushes.

"Yes," I whisper.

"Then you're more scared of dogs than-"Shut up. Don't make me think about Dal-them."

He nods, understanding. Suddenly, a slightly familiar voice says from the distance, "Honestly, Doctor. Isn't there anything _less _dangerous than a Dalek that you're scared of?"

The voice was incredibly familiar, but I couldn't quite lay my finger on who it belonged to. The next voice, however, I recognized in an instant.

"I could, River, honestly...except I didn't have enough time. I didn't know the Ancient Organisms of Darkness were back here, anyway. I thought we had the rest of them back there."

The other voice laughs, and replies, "Sweetie, stop calling them Ancient Organisms of Darkness. You sound even more nerdy than you already are."

River? As in River _Song_? And Dad is here, too?

I looked over at Dusk, an idiotic smile plastered across my face.

"Is that the Doctor?" He asks, in a barely audible voice.

I nodded. "And River Song. My Mum."

He smiled at me, and squeezed my hand, knowing how excited I must be to see them again.

I peeked over the bushes to look at them. Dad looked the same, but Mum looked younger than when I had last seen her. The difference of thirty to fifty.

"Anyway, I suppose the dog was a good idea," Mum shrugs, picking up the puppy. "You always have hated them."

"I don't hate dogs! Since when have I hated dogs?"

"Spoilers," River laughs, but the sound suddenly breaks off. "Wait...if you didn't think of the dog, then who did?"

I duck down, just as they look over at the bushes Dusk and I were hiding in. Unfortunately, a few seconds later, I heard the snap of a twig from next to me as Dusk shifted. "Sorry," He mouthed, and I shook my head.

"Melody?" I hear the Doctor ask from above me, and I look up to see him peeking over the bushes. "_Dawn _Melody?"

"Hey Doctor," I laughed shakily. "How's life?"

**HAHHAHA! YOU ALL THOUGHT IT WAS TY AND CAPTAIN JACK!**

**Except for one of you...you know who you are. :P**

**Anyway. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I know it was a little short, but I wanted to leave it on this beautiful little cliffy. ;)**

**Enjoy pondering what is going to happen next while I go eat some ice cream! :)**


	29. Chapter 28: Levels of Danger

**Okay, so I don't think I explained the concept of Shadies enough last chapter...it's a little confusing, but here's **_**my **_**explanation: One of the things they are capable of is taking the shape of something else (for example, last chapter one changed from a Dalek to a dog). They can't change until someone around them thinks of the fear, though. So, in a way, they are telepathic. The other way they can work is they can somehow change reality itself. So say you're afraid of the dark. What would happen is the whole world would become pitch black. Don't ask me how they can do that. I'm not sure. :P They do because they can. **

**Anyway. Hope you like this chapter. It's where the adventure **_**really **_**gets going.**

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 28: Levels of Danger**

**Dawn's POV-**

After I finished the sentence, Dusk and I slowly stood up.

Dad poked me in the shoulder, and I slid backwards a little.

"Doctor," River starts, looking over at him. "Who are they?"

He doesn't reply, but instead, pokes me again. And again. And again.

I eventually grab onto his finger, and just as he lifts his other hand, pointer finger sticking out, I grab that one, too.

"I don't mean to sound...offensive, Dawn. But you should be dead."

"Not really...see, after the energy conversion, Dusk, Will, and Alice brought me to the hospital. Dusk had some nanogenes with him in a plastic jar, thank goodness, and healed me. The rest is a little fuzzy...but yeah. I'm here. And alive." The lie smoothly flowed out of my lips, like butter.

I slowly let go of the Doctor's fingers.

"What about your hair? And where'd you get nanogenes?" The Doctor asks. He continues to look me over like I have three heads.

"I dyed my hair," I replied, shrugging. "New style, too." I had forgotten that last time he had seen me it was brown, and a little curlier. Or was it straighter? Oh, who cares... "As for the nanogenes...we had this run in with Captain Jack a while ago, because-"Oh, yes, of course...the con man. He didn't try to flirt with you, too, did he? I swear, he's-," River suddenly coughed.

"Oh. Right. Well, River, this is Dawn. Dawn, River...but you already know her, right?" He asks me as River and I shake hands. She shakes Dusk's, too, even though Dad didn't really mention him.

"Yes," I reply, nodding my head to River. "I met you for the first time...about twenty, thirty years from now. This is the second time."

"Can't say I've met you before," Mum replies, frowning. "What _am _I doing twenty or thirty years from now?"

"Spoilers," I laugh, waving a finger.

River laughs, and says to the Doctor, "I like this one, Doctor. One of your best companions yet. You never told me about her, though."

"C-Companion?" Dad stutters. "No...she's not my companion. Too young. Besides, I wouldn't be able to deal with another ginger. We just met while I was taking down some Cybermen."

"_We, _Doctor. _We _were taking down some Cybermen," I corrected, and River Song smirked, while Dusk snorted. Once again, I elbowed him in the ribs.

"Speaking of gingers...where's Amy?" I ask, looking around.

"Well...How about we go inside, yeah? How did you get here, anyway, Melody?" Dad asks, quickly changing the subject.

Dusk and I don't budge. I simply look at him expectantly, waiting for an answer to my last question.

"I...my TARDIS..." He mumbles.

"What was that, Doc?" Dusk asks. "Sorry, didn't hear you."

Dad glares at Dusk, and says a little louder, "The TARDIS is having problems, okay? I landed in Skagway with Amy, but she forgot something inside, and then it started making the _weeee-ooo, weeeee-ooo, _noise, and it disappeared!"

"Like Lodger all over again..." I murmured, and then smiled at my own little private joke. "But you haven't been there yet, have you?"

"Oh, yes," River laughs. "I _really _like her, Doctor."

Dad sighs, shakes his head, and tells Dusk, "Come on, Dusk...let's go inside. Let the _girls _walk back there by themselves. It's going to be nice having another man around."

He immediately perks up a little at this thought, and I realized he must have not brought Rory along yet.

I hear him ask Dusk in the distance, "You like bow ties, right? Yes, that's right...you told me last time, in the class room." Dad claps his hand on to Dusk's shoulder, and exclaims, "Good man, good man! That's what they say nowadays...right?"

River and I exchange one look, and we both start walking back toward headquarters.

_So if Dad hasn't brought Rory along yet, then we're before 'Vampires'..._ I thought.

"Have you met the Doctor with the Weeping Angels yet?" I ask River.

She looks a little surprised, but nods, and asks, "Why?"

"I'm just trying to figure out where we are in the Doctor's time line," I replied. _Before Vampires, after Angels. I wonder why Mum never told me about this adventure with Dad? That said, she sometimes doesn't tell me everything...only some. She never finished telling me about the Pandorica. Said she'd save that for another night of story telling. And then she dropped me off at Sweetie a few nights later...maybe she _wanted _it to be a surprise. _

I was so focused on my own thoughts that I barely noticed it when Mum asked, "So how much do you know about the Doctor?"

"Hm? Oh, not nearly as much as you do. But I know quite a bit...I've heard _loads _of stories. Mostly of his adventures before the Pandorica," I explain. "And some _of _the Pandorica. But not the ending. My Mum never finished telling it to me." I discreetly glanced up at her on the word 'Mum.'

"You have a Mum?" River asks, a little confused looking.

"River. Of course I have a Mum. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here, would I?" I giggled at the last part.

"Well, what I meant was-"No real parent would let their kid go off on their own like this. Yeah, I've gotten that before," I finished it for her. "I have a great Mum, believe me. Really, _really _great Mum. But I'm not an average kid, River. You'll understand...someday." _Twenty or thirty years from now, _I thought. _When you decide to let me go. _A slight burst of hostility was weaved into the thought, but I made it simmer down by sighing slightly.

"Twenty or thirty years from now?" River asks. "Is that when I'll understand?"

"Yup. Maybe even a little sooner, after you get to know me."

"How _did _you know me? And how well do you know me now?"

"You were a good friend of my family," I replied, which wasn't an entire lie. "And I don't remember much about you. I was only a little tyke back then." Thank goodness, that one was a truth.

"How long did you know me?"

"Few years," I reply, shrugging.

"Is your Mum someone I know right now?"

"That is a very deathly spoiler, River," I laugh. "You of all people should know that. Besides, I've told you enough. I have to keep you and the Doctor even."

And with that, we entered headquarters.

• • •

"So what exactly are we making again?" I ask, rubbing my hands together as I looked at the large machine before me.

I was in the lab, which looked quite a bit like the main room, with Mum and Dad. Dusk was helping Lexie in the main room with some tracking stuff.

The machine was a little odd looking, but not the weirdest thing I had ever seen in my life. There were two metal poles sticking up in the center, which were about three feet apart. They were connected to the rest of the machine, which looked somewhat like a TARDIS console because of the random buttons, knobs, and peanut butter that connected some frayed wires. Yes, peanut butter. Not duct tape, but peanut butter.

"A Shadies-Fryer," Dad explains. "It makes all the Shadies go ka-boom, and _whoosh! _And then after that everything will be as cool as bow ties again! Well...not _as _cool as bow ties. Maybe as cool as...half of a bow tie. Yes. Half of a bow tie."

I look at River, and ask, "So, what exactly are we making again?"

Dad dramatically sighs, realizing that I wasn't looking for his 'onomatopoeia bow-tie' explanation. I hold in a smile as I watch him act all sad.

River smiles, and replies, "A Shadies-Fryer, as the Doctor said. But the more 'scientifical' term is an Ancient Organism of Darkness sonic disintegrator."

"Oh, so we're disintegrating all of the Shadies using a sonic wave! That's _brilliant!_" I cried. "Can't believe I didn't realize that was what it was...what are we using as an energy source for the wave?"

"A Simglaceon," Dad replies.

"Won't that be hard to find?" I ask. "Especially in Skagway..."

"Yes, we know that," River replies. "But the Doctor also has a TARDIS."

"And that's a brilliant idea," I start. "But Doctor, didn't you say that-"The TARDIS is gone, and Amy is inside of it? Yes, of course I did." He finishes the sentence for me. "Which is _why..._" He pauses, flips a few switches, and then turns around, leaning against the console to face me. "We are having a dilemma."

"Darn. I was hoping you'd say which is _why _you have another idea," I sighed, shaking my head. "Mind if I take a look at it?"

"Go ahead," Dad replies, shrugging.

I hear River murmur to him, just loud enough for me to hear, "Are you sure that's a good idea, Sweetie?"

"Just watch, River. Just watch."

I smiled, glad that Dad trusted me. I started to race around the console, as if I were in my TARDIS. Flipping some switches, playing around with a few shoes that were acting as levers.

"Doctor, why are there buttons for...ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise?" I asked, looking, puzzled, at the red, yellow, and white buttons.

"Well, the red one is ketchup, and the yellow one is mustard, but the white one is a friction contractor," Dad explains, shrugging.

"Oh, that makes sense!" I pause, and then add, "Kind of. I still don't really get why there are ketchup and mustard buttons."

Eventually, I came to half of a pinball machine, which was lodged in the console. I tinkered with a few of the buttons on the side, and then flipped one final switch. All of the lights on the console flickered on and off for a second, and then stopped. A funny gurgling noise came out of the bottom of the machine, but then it stopped, and continued to run normally.

"There we go," I murmured, and patted the machine lovingly. "You okay now? Good." Then, a little louder, I explained, "We should be able to use a Feather Crystal now...should be much easier to find here. It's a shame we have to use one, though, they're so beautiful to just look at..." I trailed off as River and Dad stared at me in slight awe.

"But that...how did you do that?" Mum asks.

"Remember how I said I'm not the average kid, and that's why Mum let me go?" I asked, and she nodded.

"There's your answer."

Dad seemed a little confused as he looked from me to River, but then shook his head, and started to examine the machine. "Good, very good. Yes, a brilliant idea. We'll just have to make a few adjustments to the mold so that it fits the Feather crystal."

"Are you sure the Feather crystal will be strong enough?" River asks, and I could hear a tiny bit of fear in her voice. "The Shadows are becoming stronger, too. And there are more of them."

I froze. I had been on my way to the computer screen before River had said that. Something clicked inside of my head, and I felt the entire atmosphere we were in change. I slowly started to turn in circles, looking around. Fear gripped my heart. What was going on?

Fear. Oh gosh, fear. That's it!

"River," I whispered. "You shouldn't have said that."

"Why?" River asks, and her voice wasn't as fearful anymore. It wounded a little more curious than scared.

"You felt it too, Dawn?" The Doctor asks, and I nod.

"Definitely."

"Felt _what_?" River asks.

"The Shadies," Dad explains quickly. "They can sort of read your thoughts. Sometimes we don't even know they're here, in this room. But they could be, just waiting for something we fear to pop up, so they can take its form. And we all fear that the Shadows will multiply faster and stronger than we can keep up with. Once you brought that to our mind, it started happening."

"So you're saying that..." River trails off, and I finish for her.

"A Shady was probably in this room when you said that. It took over our thoughts, and probably told the other Shadies, too. So now, they're multiply, becoming stronger, and stronger, and-DUCK!"

A beam of blue barely missed River's head, and for a split second, fear overwhelmed me.

"No," I whispered to myself. "Don't think of it."

Instead, I concentrated very hard on something else I feared more than Daleks.

The Dalek's shape changed into that of a bowl of celery. I slowly approached it, and realized that the celery had little faces on them. "Crap," I whispered, and then immediately leaped back. "River, Doctor, get under the console."

"Why?" River asks. "It's just celery!"

"No," I laugh. "Not just celery. Trust me."

The celery started flying around the room, and hit River and the Doctor a few times. The bowl kept replenishing itself, and I desperately tried to remember what I had done last time to make them stop.

Last time I had encountered this type of celery, it had been during a dream. Ever since then, celery had terrified me. More than Daleks.

"Oh, that's right," I whispered, and pulled out my sonic screwdriver. Pointing it at the bowl, I flicked the switch, and all of the celery around us let out a little wail, and then melted into the black, murky stuff.

River, the Doctor, and I slowly got out from under the console.

"What in the galaxy was that?" Dad asks.

I sheepishly smile before replying, "Evil celery. It was in a dream I had once."

"And you fear those more than Daleks?"

I shrug. "I know I can beat Daleks. Celery...that's a little bit less likely."

"Unless you have a sonic screwdriver."

"Yes, of course," I laugh.

"You do realize what this means, you two, right?" Dad asks, and River and I stare at him, confused.

"We're on a new level of danger," Dad explains. "Fighting our own fears. Which are some of the most dangerous fears in the whole galaxy. Or, at least, mine are." He smiles at me, and I giggle sheepishly.

"But isn't that the way we like it?" I ask, smiling.

"Most definitely."

**Okay, sorry 'bout the rubbish ending to that chapter. I just wanted to get this out to you guys. ;) **

**This adventure is kind of deep...and I like it, too, but I have to get used to writing again now and get off my lazy Christmas butt. ha ha. ;P**

**Anyway, hope you guys liked this chap! This adventure will be moderately long, and then there's ONE MORE after that until the story ends! I've decided to add the Christmas special and the 'Season Finale' (book finale) together. :D It's going to be awesome. But I can't give too much away, so I should stop talking.**

**THEN, there's the sequel! But first, I'm sorry to say, I'm going to take a break to plan book two, and get it started. Also, I'm going to be **_**super **_**busy this semester. It will probably last two months, tops! BUT, you won't be completely without me, because I'm going to do this one shot series for **_**this**_** story called "Forgotten Days," which will tell about some extra stuff that happened throughout the adventures. Bits of fluff, tiny adventures, and humor bits. Ever wanted to hear just exactly what happened for lunch that day in France? Guess what? YOU'RE GOING TO FIND OUT! :D So, I'll do one of those each week, and give you guys little updates on how things are going for book two, also. I know the title of it, but I can't tell you the title, because it gives away so much... ;P**

**Anyway, sorry for the long author's note, but I wanted to explain that to you guys. Cool? Great! :D REVIEW PLEASE! :)**


	30. Chapter 29: Black as Night

**I'm soooooo lazy. Ha ha. I meant to finish this whole book before break ends, and that's **_**not **_**going to happen, because school starts again tomorrow. :P**

**One of the reasons I haven't been writing lately is because I'm super addicted to reading this new book I got for Christmas...it is AWESOME. :D I've also been very addicted to jammin' on my new blue guitar while wearing my new blue snuggie (also from Christmas). **

**ANYWAY. Ha ha. Here's the next chapter.**

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 29: Black as Night**

**Dusk's POV-**

"Er, Lexie..." I hesitated, looking at the computer screen once more.

"Yeah?"

"This isn't good...right?"

Lexie and I were in the main room of headquarters, tracking where the most Shadies were, and planning our next 'attack.'

Lexie walked over to the computer. Well, more like danced. She was very graceful, and each of her steps hardly made a noise on the wood floor.

She looked at the computer screen I was staring at, which showed Shadies as flashing, green blobs. We were able to track them by using some 'alien flash,' which is what Lexie calls it. It looked like a circular locator thing that you would see on an airplane, or a submarine.

"No," Lexie murmured. She wiggled the mouse a few times, and pressed a few buttons. "No, that's not good at all."

The green blobs of Shadies were multiplying _very _quickly.

"That's...weird." Lexie frowned, and continued, "There must have been a glitch in the computer system. Either that, or our job just got a _lot _harder."

We suddenly heard a lot of noise from the laboratory, something like a mixture of squeals, and thumps from something hitting metal. I rushed over to the door, and started to jiggle the handle, and with a rush of fear, realized it wouldn't open.

"Lexie, the door won't open!" I cried, and continued to fuss with the handle. I wondered what was going on in there, and hoped that it wasn't anything bad.

"What do you mean, it won't open?" Lexie asks, and races over to the door, jiggling the handle. "Oh, that's scary...my own base turning against me."

"Scary," I whispered. "OH! I get it!" I quickly thought of squirrels, and my shocking fear of them. The door handle turned into black gooey stuff, to reveal another door handle that looked exactly like it underneath, but this one wasn't locked. The black mud plopped onto the floor, and quickly took the shape of a squirrel.

"Shady," Lexie whispered. "You were scared the door wouldn't open, and so it didn't. There was a Shady in here, acting as a locked door handle, and we didn't even notice it."

Suddenly, I felt something nip at my foot. "Ouch!" I cried, and glared at the little squirrel below me. I gave Lexie one quick glance, and she understood. Then, I opened the door to the lab.

I slipped inside, and closed the door behind me. I heard Lexie rustle around outside, and heard the fire of a gun as she shot the squirrel.

Inside the lab, the walls were covered with the black, murky stuff. River Song, the Doctor, and Dawn were standing around the console of a large machine, grinning sheepishly at each other.

Dawn heard the door open, and turned to look over at it. When she saw me, she smiled, and gestured for me to come over.

"Hey Dusk," she greeted me, messing with a few controls, as usual. "How are things going in there?"

"Well...the Shadies are-"Multiplying?" Dawn finishes the sentence for me, and I nod.

"Yeah, see-"It's my fault," River interrupts, shaking her head. "I was afraid that our Sonic Disintegrator-"Shadie Fryer!" River glares at the Doctor, and then continues, "I was afraid that our 'Shadie Fryer' wouldn't be able to handle that many Shadies. It would have, but then I started thinking of what would happen if the Shadies multiplied, and...well, you get the picture."

"It's fine," Dawn adds, smiling. "The Doctor and I are just going to fiddle with a few controls here and there to increase the power."

Dawn's father nods, and I realized that he was using his sonic screwdriver to fiddle with a few of the switches.

"So we just have to be careful not to think of things we're scared of in the meantime," Dawn explains. "Because there are Shadies swarming _everywhere. _And then, after we fix this machine to take in a little more power, you, Lexie and I are going to go find the Feather Crystal in the local mine."

"Hey!" The Doctor explains. "When was that decided?"

Dawn shrugs, and replies, "I just decided it."

"Uh, no way. You kids aren't going to go by yourself in a mine, swarming with Shadies, to find a crystal. River and I will take care of that," The Doctor explains quickly, shaking his head at Dawn.

"Are you _sure,_ Doctor?" Dawn asks. "In a mine...alone? With a mysterious woman you know practically nothing about?" Dawn continued these dark, mysterious, and playful thoughts about River Song with the Doctor, and River was hiding a wide smile.

"On second thought," The Doctor suddenly says. "You can come with us."

"What?" Dawn exclaims. "Me? B-But, you don't know anything about me, either, I could-"You're also thirteen," The Doctor interrupts. "You aren't capable of doing what River could do...alone. With me. In a dark mine." His eyes were distant again, and he suddenly shook his head.

I wondered why Dawn was against going with _only _River and the Doctor, but fine with going with Lexie and me.

"Well then we'll take Dusk, too," The Doctor says, smiling. He patted me on the back, and I could've sworn I heard him mumble, "I _think _that's what they do nowadays..."

"But then we're leaving Lexie alone here!" Dawn protests. "And that's not fair to her. This place is getting more dangerous by the second. For all we know, the-," She cuts off abruptly with a squeal as I quickly cover her mouth with my hand. She glares darkly at me, and then her eyes relax a little when she realizes I just didn't want her to say what might happen, because odds are, she was afraid it _would _happen, so then the Shadies would cause it to happen. Somehow.

This is really weird.

I quickly pulled my hand away when I realized I could feel something a little wet touching it. With a cry of surprise, I ask Dawn, "Why did you just _lick _my hand?"

"Because you wouldn't pull it away," She giggles as I wipe my hand on my shirt. "Anyway. It's dangerous here. We can't just leave Lexie to fend for herself."

"Well then what do _you _suggest, Dawn?" The Doctor asks, growing a little exasperated. "And don't say you kids go get it, because I'll follow you, anyway."

"How about you all go, and we leave me here?" She asks. "I can fend for myself better than Lexie can. And you'll find the crystal faster if you all work together. Besides, I'll be just fine. I'm good at not thinking of things I'm scared of."

"Says the girl who conjured celery out of a Dalek," River laughs.

"Fine. I'm good at thinking of _simple _fears," Dawn replies, smiling.

"Absolutely _not._" The Doctor and I say at the same time.

"Yes I am! Celery is way simpler than a-," I use my hand to cover her mouth again. She cuts off, and with a cautious glance at her, I remove my hand before she licks it again.

"We weren't talking about that," The Doctor says, shaking his head. I nod. "It's much too dangerous for you to be here by yourself."

"Well I didn't hear you say that about Lexie," Dawn growls, throwing a nasty glare at her father.

He doesn't reply for a few moments. And then, finally, he mutters, "Fine. You can stay."

Surprise lights up my face. I didn't think he'd agree. Then, I felt a small twinge of alarm in my heart, and wondered if she'd be okay.

As if she could hear my thoughts, Dawn glanced over at me, and smiled gently, as if to say, "I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Well, what if I stay, too?" I ask, and Dawn throws a glare at me. I ignore it. "Don't you think three sets of hands is enough to find a crystal?"

"But Lexie can't be the only younger one in the mine," Dawn replies coolly. "That wouldn't be very fair to her."

"She's been dealing with them for a week."

"Yes, but dealing is different than being comfortable with them."

"Yes, but being in danger is different than being safe."

"Who said I need your help to stay safe?" Dawn growls, and crosses her arms. "I'll be just fine on my own, thanks. Actually, I'll be _better _than fine without you."

A tense silence followed our argument. Dawn and I scowling at each other, and I wondered why we were arguing. We hadn't argued since...the whole adventure with the Master, Marth, and Lily.

I suddenly realized that Dawn's eyes looked _very _different. Bits of black were swirling around inside them, and her usual shining emerald eyes were now a dark, frog-green.

"Oh," I murmured, slapping a hand to my forehead. _Squirrels, _I thought. _Squirrels. _

I opened my eyes, but didn't see any squirrels. A little part in the back of my head knew why. I was more scared that Dawn and I would get in an argument than I was of squirrels.

_Something I'm more scared of than an argument with her, _I thought. Images of things I was afraid of swirled through my brain, but none of them worked. Until I came across the image of Dawn, dying.

"Oh, crap," I whispered, and watched as her eyes went completely dark, and she started coughing, and crouching to the floor.

"Dawn," I whispered urgently in her ear. "Help me. Think of something you're scared of. I'm sorry, I-I...I thought of you dying. As a fear. And I think the Shadows are inside of you, making it happen."

Dawn nods feebly, and closes her eyes. She seemed to be getting weaker by the second as the coughing fits sent shivers through her body.

Suddenly, I saw the Shadies come out of her eyes in the form of black, smoky clouds. They flew over to the door, and floated right through it.

Dawn was calming down now, her breathing returning to normal. I helped her stand up, and she murmured, "I'm sorry, everyone. I'm so, so sorry."

"Why?" The Doctor asked. "Where are they going?"

"The sun," She whispered. "They're going to black out the sun. No more light."

And at the moment she said 'light,' the world went black.

**Whoa. Scary. **

**Poor Dusk. He practically **_**made**_** Dawn argue with him because he was scared it would happen. Bad boy. ha ha. ;)**

**And now the world is DARK? Oh man, who thinks this whole thing just got a lot harder?**

**Anyway. HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D Hope you liked this chapter. Sorry it was a little short...I wanted to end it at that cliffhanger. ;) Review!**


	31. Chapter 30: Caught in Thought

**Urgh...I think I'm going to go back and re-write the first chapter soon. Clear some things up. It messed me up this chapter. ;P**

**Anyway...some of my favorite aliens are going to be in this chapter, even though it will only be briefly. See if you can guess what they are before you read. :D They appear in the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor episodes. Mu ha ha. So, anyway, ENJOY!**

**Chapter 30: Caught in Thoughts**

**Dawn's POV-**

It was very, very dark. My eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the gloom. Thankfully, I only feared the sun going out. Flashlights and light up buttons on our 'Shadie Fryer' will still work. During the process, though, I also thought of what would happen if the _main _lights everywhere didn't work. So that's out, too. No sun, no big lights...just flashlights. And buttons.

I stopped thinking about that, though, just in case.

"What happened?" River asks.

"I've always been scared of the dark," I reply. "And so the Shadies covered the sun."

"But wouldn't they burn?" Dusk asks.

"Shadies are capable of anything, as long as it's feared," The Doctor replies, and I heard the whirring noise of his sonic screwdriver. It made all of the lights on the machine glow a little more, and I could see the outlines of everything now.

At that moment, Lexie came in the door. I knew it was her because she immediately asked, "Okay, who thought of being scared of the dark?"

"That would be me," I replied, sticking a hand up in the air, even though she probably couldn't see.

"Well then it's a good thing I have these." I hear a _click, _and then I saw her holding a flashlight. She tossed one to each of us.

"Right," The Doctor says. "New plan. River, Lexie, and Dusk will go to the mine. Dawn and I will stay here."

"Well what made you think of that?" I ask a little hesitantly.

"River, you know what to look for, right?" Dad asks, and Mum nods. "And since you two," He points the flashlight over at Dusk and I. We flinch back when he shines it in our eyes. "Obviously can't decide if _he _can stay behind or not, then _I'll _stay behind with Dawn. That way, Dawn isn't alone, and I'm sure both of us are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves."

I shrug in the dim light. "Okay." Dusk hesitates, but ends up agreeing.

"Right then," The Doctor says. "River, Dusk, Lexie, we'll see you guys later. Dawn, come with me...we need to get some stuff from the kitchen."

"Er, why?" I ask.

"Because I'm hungry!" The Doctor replies. "And you _can't_ fight your fears on an empty stomach. I think I'll whip up some fish sticks and custard."

"Sounds great," I giggled.

"Lexie, Dusk, with me," River nods at them, and begins walking to the main room. Dusk throws me one glance that says, _be careful, _and leaves.

I stared after them. A small hole of emptiness filled my heart, and I frowned. _He will come back, _I thought. _And so will River. She has to come back. She has a future, with Dad. _

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned around to see the Doctor, smiling at me gently. "They'll come back," He says. "They'll be just fine."

I think he was trying to convince himself as well as me.

We made eye contact, and he asked, "Who are you, Dawn?"

I smiled, and replied, "A girl who is hungry. Come on, let's go make some fish sticks and custard."

• • •

The Doctor and I were in the main room, eating fish sticks and custard. Nothing too bad had happened so far. Dad had pictured a Dalek again, but I took care of that by picturing an Aliptocus Spider, which was easy to kill, but ugly looking, which is why I'm so scared of them.

Our flashlights were on the floor but still dimly lighting the room. We were on the floor also, with our plates on the ground, munching contently on the food.

"So you really like this?" The Doctor asks, amused.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed. "I've liked fish sticks and custard since I was really little. At my house, Mum would always bring them home from the grocery and I would eat them for hours. The people I've met think it's disgusting, but I think they're delightful."

"Finally, someone who understands!" The Doctor exclaims, smiling. "You are brilliant, Dawn. Brilliant. Almost as cool as bow ties."

"Thanks," I giggled, taking another bite of a fish stick.

"So...what have you been doing lately?" The Doctor asks.

I glance slyly at him, and realized he was completely innocent looking. Maybe he really _was _simply interested, and not just trying to get me to talk about...well. Spoilers.

"Traveling," I reply, and shrug.

"Alone?"

"With Dusk."

"Ah, I should've known. And your parents let you?'

"They don't really care, I suppose." Then I realized how terrible that made the Doctor and River sound. "I mean, they _care, _they just don't...care. You know?"

"So, in other words, you ran away?" He asks, a suspicious look on his face.

"You could say that," I reply, shrugging.

He asks casually, "From where?"

"Spoilers," I giggle.

Dad glares at me a little, and then asks a little gently, "Do you _like_ your parents?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Then why _did _you run?" He asks.

"Because I could," I replied, which, in a way, was the truth. Probably, when I was older, I would have run away anyway if I had access to a TARDIS. "Haven't you ever done that, Doctor? Run away from something because you could?" I pause, and he opens his mouth to say something, but I interrupt, "And no, before you ask, I'm not a young version of Amy Pond. You would've known by now."

"So who _are _you?" He asks, and I knew he wanted to know desperately.

"I think that someday you'll find that out," I reply, taking a bite of one of my fish sticks. I swallow, and then continue, "I'm a little surprised that you haven't figured it out already."

"Is it easy? I mean, who you are? Should I have guessed by now?"

"Well," I paused, thinking about how to answer his question. "It depends. How do you feel about me?" _Because you've had daughters before, _I thought to myself. _So if you feel about me the same way you feel about one of your daughters, then shouldn't it be easy to guess that I _am _your daughter? _

"I think you're crazy," He laughs. "And smart. Very smart. Resourceful, too. Always using that sonic screwdriver of yours. And then there are times when I think that really, you're lonely. Very, very lonely. I should be able to tell, Dawn. If you know anything about me, you know that I'm lonely."

"And they all try to deny it," I whisper. "But someday, it will catch up to us. Because we live so much longer than everyone else. We watch people wither up and die, and grow old, and-," I stopped, knowing I didn't have much experience in this. But I can _feel _it happening to me now. The thought of Dusk leaving me always lingers in the back of my head. I can _feel _the loneliness. I don't know how. But I can.

"It will catch up to _us?_" He asks, a confused expression on his face. I realized I had slipped up, saying 'us' instead of 'you,' as in the Doctor.

"Sorry, sorry. You. It will catch up to _you._"

"So you are lonely?" He asks.

"Very." I reply, nodding. "Well...not at the moment. But I can feel it. In the future, I will be. I just...know."

"Brilliant," He suddenly murmured.

"Sorry?" I asked, not understanding.

"You are brilliant," He explains. "Another word to describe how I think of you. You understand things that others don't."

"There's one thing you haven't said yet, Doctor," I began very seriously. "You may think I'm crazy, smart, resourceful, lonely, and brilliant. But do you actually _like _me?"

He flashes me a big grin, and replies, "Yes. I think I do, Melody." I look at him with big, happy eyes, and he repeats, "I think I do."

My. Dad. Likes. Me. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. THE Doctor, MY Dad, likes me. I had to contain the huge smile that felt like breaking out onto my face, but I did let a little one escape.

"Do your _parents _like you?" He suddenly asks, and jumps a little, as if he just had a brilliant idea. I almost laughed at the irony of the question, because he had basically just answered it himself.

"Yes, I think so," I reply. "But I think my parents are...different. From other parents. We're equals, I think. We understand each other. My parents are more like my best friends, I think, and I'll call them Mum and Dad, but really, they're just..." I was at a loss of words. It's true, though. I think my parents are going to understand me, and love me, of course, and do what parents do. But I don't think they're going to be _normal _parents. We'll treat each other teasingly, and be the closest family in the world. But I don't think we'll all ever be...normal. Like a human family.

To tell you the truth, I think I'll kind of like that.

He stares at me for a little bit in a curious, pushing way. Trying to get me to say more. But I was done.

Dad eventually realizes this, and shakes his head.

"Really, Doctor," I giggled. "That's many more spoilers than River has given _you_ so far."

He chuckled, and replied, "Yes...I suppose so." Then, he suddenly stood up, and started fiddling with some buttons on the computers.

"What are you doing?" I ask, and stand up to look at the screen with him.

"Well, I just had an idea!" He explains, fiddling with a few more buttons. "If we can track where there is the most activity with Shadies, then we might be able to find out where River, Dusk, and Lexie are."

"They're in the mine, though," I replied. "We already know that."

"Yes, but it's important to know how close they are to coming-ah hah!" He points to the screen, and I could see three purple blobs, heading toward the local mine.

"How did you track them?" I ask, puzzled.

"My sonic screwdriver," He replies. "I gave it to River, right before she left. Just in case they came across anything, er...bad."

_Aliens, _I thought. _Ha, can't you just imagine something like the Slitheen in a mine, with River, Dusk, and Lexie? _I almost laughed out loud, until I realized the purpose of the Doctor's screwdriver-plan-thingy.

_Aliens! There are worse aliens than the Slitheen...there are Weeping Angels, Daleks, Cybermen...Hm. Weeping Angels would be kind of fun to come across one day. Then again, they'd be dangerous..._

I was having one of those Time Lady moments, where I was completely lost in thought. Then the Doctor started calling my name, and I snapped out of it.

"Sorry," I giggled. "What's up?"

"Nothing..." He trailed off. "You just kind of looked. Funny."

I shook my head, and then picked my flashlight up off of the ground. I randomly twirled it around a few times, and asked, "So, what are you-," I cut off when my flashlight landed in my hand, pointing at something gray and frightening.

"Doctor," I murmured. "Doctor, I don't mean to burst your bubble or anything, but there's a-"Not now, Dawn," He mumbled, fiddling with more buttons.

"But Doctor," I continued, trying very hard not to blink. "You _really _should look at this."

"Just a sec."

I slowly started to inch closer, winking one eye at a time so that some moisture was returned to them.

Sure enough, standing right in front of me were two Weeping Angels. Also known as: Shadies. But now they could do the same things that real Weeping Angels are able to do. One of those things includes scaring my guts out. The second involves me dying. Oh, what fun.

My eyes scanned them for the first time, until I made it up to their faces.

I jumped at their horrible expressions, and dropped my flashlight in fear. It slowly rolled over to them, as dramatic as a T.V. show. The flashlight landed right in between the two Angel's feet.

"Craaaaaaaap," I whispered, letting the 'a' go on for several seconds.

And then, I did something very, very stupid.

I started walking forward to grab the flashlight.

Surprisingly, the Doctor hadn't noticed yet. I made no intention to call out his name, thinking that it would make me lose my focus on one: getting the flashlight, and two: not taking my eyes off of the Angels.

Suddenly, I lost my balance as I fingered around, looking for the flashlight. With a shriek, I fell right in between the two aliens.

I think I vaguely heard the Doctor call my name as I waited for my neck to snap.

It didn't happen.

I cautiously opened my eyes to see the two angels leaning over me, and wondered why I hadn't died yet.

Then, I figured it out: They could see each other's feet, so they were looking at each other. Stuck there for eternity.

I let out a laugh. The kind of airy laugh you produce after a near-death experience.

And then I abruptly stopped laughing as the Angels started melting into the black, muddy stuff. It slopped to the floor, but in the process, most of it landed on me.

"Ugh," I muttered, standing up. I flicked my appendages to get the stuff off, and continued, "This is _so _gross!"

"What happened?" The Doctor asked, a little frantically. "I just saw Weeping Angels, and then you screamed, and-," He cut off, waiting for me to reply.

"Er, I've never seen them before," I replied. "They've always scared me a little...and I suppose that there were more Shadies in here, and they turned into Angels."

"Well why did you approach them?" The Doctor yells angrily, but I know that he was really just concerned for me, and glad that I was still alive.

"I dropped my flashlight, and it rolled in between their feet," I replied, keeping my tone cool and calm. "And calm down, Doctor, I'm fine."

"Stupid," Dad growled. "That's another thing I can describe you as. Incredibly _stupid._"

I shrugged, knowing that at times, it was true. I turned my attention to the computer screen, when suddenly, a piercing pain shot through my head. I held a hand up to my forehead, heart pounding, and held in a scream. Instead, I simply whimpered a little.

"Dawn?" Dad asks, puzzled. "Dawn, are you okay?" I could vaguely feel his hands on my shoulders as the pain grew sharper, and overtook my thoughts and senses, until there was nothing. Just pain.

I tried to remember what things _other _than pain felt like, but the hurt was so intense I could barely think. Maybe that's what life really is. Just thoughts...barely spoken thoughts.

_No one thinking these thoughts. Life isn't anything without things around you. Just thoughts. _

_Thoughts, swirling in darkness. Nothing, just...thoughts. Echoes off of the walls of time. And thoughts can't feel pain. _

_You are nothing._

_That's it, _I thought. _No, there is an 'I.' I am...I am..._

I was losing it. My brain was hurting so badly that I couldn't feel or think anything.

_Thoughts. Thoughts of darkness, and pain. But no feeling. Just...thoughts. That's what life is._

_NO! _I shouted to myself. _This. Is. A. Fear. And whose fear it is, I don't know. But that doesn't matter. This. Is. A. FEAR!_

But the voice of thought continued, and I could hear a faint screaming in the distance. Maybe mine. But who is this 'mine?'

_Thoughts. Nothing else. _

Suddenly, there was a bright light. I couldn't _see _it...I was _thinking _of it. But it was _there, _in my head.

And I could _see. _Horrifying, terrible things. All of the colors in the world. They were terribly bright, but dark, at the same time. Music that was beautiful, but awful at the same time. Haunting music.

One thing stood out above them all: A purple crack.

I couldn't think. I could _feel _the pain now, though, and it throbbed against my head. Something was shaking me, over and over and over again. My heart thudded, and my eyes were wet with tears of pain.

_Thoughts. You cannot feel these things. You can think of the pain and tears, though. _

I was letting myself sink. Sink into the strange voice that spoke like haunting music, and looked like awful colors.

Until suddenly, a voice called out:

_DAWN! _

**Okay. Lemme hear you say it: Omigosh. OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH! **

**Yeah. I'm bad at writing those kind of 'dream-like' sequences. heh. I fail.**

**A PURPLE CRACK! **Gasp** No, I'm not completely changing the plot. The Purple Crack is...metaphorical. ;P Think about it a little, and maybe you'll understand. Who do you think the voice is that called out Dawn's name? Really, guys, I want to hear your predictions. :D**

**Oh, and did you enjoy the Doctor and Dawn's chat? I thought I'd let you guys read some 'daddy-daughter time.' ;P **

**REVIEW! PREDICT! :D**


	32. Chapter 31: In Sickness and in Health

**Yeah, I know, I'm SUPER late. Sorry. Been really busy lately, and had a big test today...so yeah. Had to get up at six in the morning on a Saturday. ew. ;)**

**And guess what? Remember that cruel cliffhanger I gave you guys last time? Well, I'm starting in Dusk's POV, so you don't get to see what happens yet...mu ha ha. ;) You know you love me. :D**

**I just want to note that I've been coming up with some pretty awesome chapter names lately...cause usually my chapter names are rubbish. heh. And if you really wanna see how amazing I am, read the name of this chapter, and then read the next chapter's name (That I have already planned out)...together. ;D**

**Okay, so if no one whatsoever knew what was going on last chapter with Dawn at the end, just think she had a migraine headache thingy so huge that she couldn't feel anything **_**except **_**that. And there was also a weird voice in her head speaking to her. The identity of that voice will be revealed this chapter. And this chapter is kind of confusing, just keep reading, because some things aren't cleared up until a few paragraphs later...and if you're still really confused at the end, just ask me in a review. :)**

**Anyway. Hope you guys like this chapter...it's intense. Maybe. ;P But I had some writer's block over it...so yeah. :( It might be terrible. ha ha.**

**ENJOY!**

**P.S. Sorry for the really long A/N. ;) And really long wait. :(**

**Chapter 31: In Sickness and in Health**

**Dusk's POV-**

"Dusk, you start looking over there...take this. When the locator starts to beep, call me over," River explains, and hands me some sort of rectangular remote thing. I nod, and head over to the wall of the mine she had gestured to.

Thank goodness, we had made it to the mine without many problems. Lexie had thought of her fear of clowns once, but River quickly took care of that with some high tech disintegrator gun. I would have to ask Dawn about getting one of those...

I pressed a button on the side of the locator, and started to slowly move around one wall of the mine. The mine wasn't _super _far from headquarters, but it was definitely harder to make it here in the dark.

The mine itself started out like a tunnel, and then kept widening until it was a huge room of rock, with several tunnels and dusty mine carts that looked like they hadn't been used in a while.

Suddenly, I heard Lexie exclaim, "Oh, shoot!" From across the mine.

I looked over, and saw, in the dim light, that she was looking at her hand in distress.

Without hesitation, I ran over, and asked, "What happened?"

"I cut it on a rock," She replied, frowning. "Which sounds really pathetic, but I swear, it was as sharp as a-," She cut off when we both heard a faint beeping, coming from my hand. It was the locator.

I looked at the wall she was standing by, and saw a sharp piece of crystal, poking out of the rock.

"Lexie," I whispered, smiling. "I think you just cut your hand on the Feather Crystal."

"Well, that's lucky," She spat out sarcastically. "But really, before you start saving the world and stuff, can we find something to help my hand?" Lexie whined, and held out her hand for me to look at. It had been cut from the base of her pointer finger to the bottom of her wrist.

"That doesn't look good," I murmured, and turned it over to look at the other side, which thankfully didn't have anything on it. "No problem for me, though."

I wrapped my hand around hers, and let the nanogenes flow out.

In the brief moment that I sensed her feelings and thoughts, I could feel awe, and a little bit of fear, too.

I smiled quickly, looking up at her. Then, I pulled my hand away, and watched, grinning wildly, as she held it up to her eyes, looking at it.

I wondered for a brief moment what I would do without the healing power. It would be bad, that was for sure...I used it to help so many people. If they had been reversed...I shuddered, thinking of Dawn's first regeneration.

Seconds later I realized I had been wondering about this for a moment too long.

"Crap," I whispered, and held a hand to my forehead. "No, that was stupid...I don't fear that. I _don't _fear that."

"Fear what?" Lexie asks, a little frantic. "Dusk, are you okay?"

There was a sharp pain that ran through my forehead, and I called into my thoughts, _Nitero! Nitero, what's going on? NITERO!_

She didn't reply, and the pain in my forehead grew worse. It was like the worst headache I had ever had, times one thousand.

I could vaguely hear Lexie speaking to me.

"Dusk, are you okay?" She asked.

The pain grew stronger, but I spat out through gritted teeth, "No...this is bad. I have...powers, I guess you could call them. Healing powers. And I just started fearing that they wouldn't work, and-"Now there's a Shady inside your head," Lexie finished.

It wasn't the complete truth. Sure, I had thought about them not working, but I had also thought about them reversing what had happened to everyone...including Dawn.

I felt myself barely nod, and realized that my eyes were closed.

"Just...just start fearing something else!"

Before I could stop it, fears started to flow into my mind. One stood out among the rest, but I couldn't actually _see _it. I just knew it was _there, _somewhere in the back of my head.

The pain lightened a little, and I opened my eyes. There was still a buzzing feeling in my head, though.

"Well?" Lexie asks, and by this time, River was also here. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," I murmured, and touched my forehead lightly. It stung like a bee. "I just started fearing that the nanogenes wouldn't work, and-"Nanogenes?" River asks, and I shoo her question away with a wave of my hand. "And there was this pain, in my head, and..."

I trailed off, feeling a strange hollowness in my stomach. Suddenly, I realized that there was something else. Something else I could barely feel, in the back of my head. But it was definitely _there. _

_Nitero, _I called into my head again. _Nitero, what's going on? Answer me! _

"Dusk," River murmurs. "Dusk, are you okay?" She lifts a hand to touch my shoulder.

"Something is wrong," I whisper. "I don't know what, but something is really, really wrong. I can _feel _it."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a physic link...with a nanogene. It's hard to explain, so don't ask. I tried calling her, but she won't reply. And I can _feel _something else, in my head. I think it's the Shady."

River shrugs, and replies, "Well...there's not much we can do right now. At least nothing bad is happening at this moment."

"Yeah," I murmur.

"Anyway!" Lexie exclaims, breaking the tense ambience. "We found the Feather Crystal, River!" Lexie gestures to the wall, where she had first cut her hand.

"Great," River smiles, and starts investigating the crystal ledged in the wall. "Lexie, help me get this out, please." They started using some high tech devices to dig the crystal out of the wall.

I tried to think straight, but the constant buzz in my head made it impossible.

The other feeling was also growing stronger. It was a strange...sense. A familiar one. It was kind of warm, and friendly, and inviting, but it also seemed tainted with pain.

Suddenly, there was a burst of inspiration in my head. I quickly looked over at River and Lexie, and saw that River was holding the crystal in her hands. It was a pretty good size, and very sharp looking. I could see how Lexie had accidentally cut her hand.

I could also see how I was going to purposefully cut mine.

Walking over to them, I asked, "River, can I see that for a second?"

She hesitates, but then carefully hands it to me. "Be very, _very _careful," She says, and I turn the crystal over in my hands a few times.

Then, I take one sharp point of it, and start lightly dragging it across the palm of my hand. Little beads of blood started to show.

"What are you doing?" River cries, and roughly takes the crystal from my hand.

"Nitero, the nanogene, has to be active in order for me to talk to her," I explain. "So I need something that I can heal."

I then pool all of my emotions together, and started to heal my hand.

_Nitero! _I called into the crowd of nanogenes.

_Yes? _She eventually replies.

_What was going on just now, with the whole migraine thing?_

_There's a Shady inside of you. _

_Well, I know that! _I yell at her inwardly. _But _what _was the Shady doing? _

She didn't reply. I realized it was because the nanogenes had finished healing my cut, and were no longer active.

I sighed in defeat, ready to ask River for the crystal one more time, when a shocking flow of images flew into my head.

And _that _was when I knew what was going on.

Nitero had sent the images to me. She had mentioned that in one of them...It was like she had been telling me a very long, long story, in just a few images. And the other thing that was going on, you ask? Dawn was in trouble.

My head was pounding again. I wondered if it was because the Shady was trying to stop me from communicating with Dawn. But now that I knew what was going on, nothing was going to stop me.

So I started looking for the feeling I had felt earlier. The one that was warm, friendly, and inviting, but also tainted with pain. That was Dawn, and I was feeling _her. _Not just her emotions, but her, as a...whole, I guess. Nitero had told me through the pictures that it was some sort of physic connection.

Finally, I grasped on to the feeling, and called out, _DAWN! _in my head. And when I didn't hear a reply at first, I kept trying.

_Dawn! Dawn, listen to me. There are probably other voices inside your head right now, but you have to listen to this one! It's me, Dusk! DAWN! Listen!_

The pain was still pounding against my head, and I knew that the Shady was trying to convince me that it wasn't worth helping her.

And then, I heard a small, feeble voice answer to my thoughts:

_Dusk?_

_Dawn, is that you? _

_Yes...what's going on? My head really, really hurts. _

I could feel myself frown, and realized that my eyes were closed again. Vaguely, I could hear River and Lexie in the distance, but I blocked them out, and focused on keeping my connection with Dawn again.

_Yeah, I know, mine does, too, _I reply quickly. _It's a Shady. _

_Oh, so this is your fear? _

_It's actually yours, and mine...I think. At least, that's what Nitero said. _

_You spoke to Nitero?_

_Never mind. Just listen, because soon the Shady will probably take me over or something, and then we'll lose the connection. When we get back to HQ, I can tell you more about what's going on, but for now, you just have to try to ignore the pain. And _don't _think about me. Because then the pain will be worse. _

_But how can I not think about you when I can _feel _you? _She cries in my head.

_You have to try! If you don't think about me, or try to feel me, then we'll both be okay, because I'm going to try to not think about you. _

_But what about when you get back? _She asks.

_We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. _

_Dusk, I think- _

I didn't let her finish. I broke off the connection, almost completely, by just letting go. She was still swimming in the hollow part of my stomach, which may sound weird, but it was true. I felt her fade a little more as she let go of the connection, also.

But I knew I wasn't going to be able to let go of her _completely. _Not until...

I stopped thinking, took a deep breath, and opened my eyes.

It was like flicking an 'on' switch. Suddenly, I could feel everything again, and hear River and Lexie speaking to me.

"Dusk, are you okay?" River asks.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I reply, shaking my head a little. Before they can ask any more questions, I say, "Come on, let's go back to head quarters. I think that the Doctor and Dawn are going to need us..."

• • •

**Dawn's POV-**

I swayed like a thin tree in the breeze, and the Doctor put his arms on my shoulders to steady me.

My eyes fluttered open, and I took a deep breath in.

"Dawn, are you alright?" He asks.

"Yeah, fine," I reply, shaking my head.

"What happened?" Dad questions, using the sonic screwdriver to scan my eyes. I swat it away.

"Stop! Nothing happened...just some Shady stuff." I replied a little harshly, and pushed passed him to look at the computer we had been tracking Dusk, River, and Lexie on.

"They're coming back," I whispered, nodding my head. A few seconds later, when thoughts of what had just happened flowed to my head, it started to pound again, but I pushed them away, and let my thoughts bounce around.

"Like a volleyball game," I laughed quietly.

"Hm?" The Doctor asks, and I forgot he was there.

"My brain," I reply. "Is like a volleyball game. The ball jumps from set of hands, or thought, to the next, and occasionally touches back, but then it's up and at it again."

"Interesting," Dad replies. He pauses, and then continues, "I think I'd describe mine as more of...a cricket game."

"Cricket?"

"Yes. Cricket. You see-," He doesn't have the chance to reply, because at that moment, River, Lexie, and Dusk burst through the door.

Just _looking _at Dusk makes me feel very dizzy. I grip the computer for support.

"Well that was fast," Dad murmurs, and practically skips over to River, Dusk, and Lexie. "Did you find it?"

"Yes," River replies, and holds out the Feather Crystal to him. Dad takes it gingerly, and inspects it interestedly.

I could barely hear any of the following conversation, because I suddenly felt very tired. Like I just needed to lie down and take a very long nap...

And then I was falling. Just as I thought I would hit the floor, I heard a slight rustle from the door, and then there were arms around me. The touch was like a thousand tiny paper cuts, and energizing at the same time, like a lightning bolt.

And then the world went black.

• • •

**Dusk's POV-**

"Dusk," The Doctor said, a little coolly. "Let go of her."

I looked at him, and then let her fall that last inch to the floor. As soon as my hands left Dawn's back, she inhaled sharply, but then exhaled slowly. Her eyes didn't open.

"You weren't supposed to do that," The Doctor growls. "And now look at her! Lying on the floor like that, half dead!"

"H-How did you know?" I ask, wondering how he knew I wasn't supposed to touch Dawn at all. Not even the slightest poke.

He doesn't reply. We both watch as River picks Dawn up in her arms gently, and then says, "I'll take her to the guest room. Lexie, would you like to help me?"

Lexie nods eagerly, and replies, "Sure."

I watch them go silently.

"You humans. Apes. Idiots!" The Doctor suddenly cries, throwing his hands up in the air. "You are most definitely not as cool as bow ties anymore." He adds, shaking his head.

"How did you know?" I ask again.

"Know what?"

"That I shouldn't have caught her."

"Oh, that?" He pauses, and then explains, "A sonic screwdriver can show a lot about a person's condition."

"How much did you...see?" I ask, supposing he must have scanned her after our 'talk.'

"If you're asking if I saw who she really was, then no. That part of her mind was blocked off." He pauses, and then adds, "Unfortunately. But I _was _able to see some calculations, and my amazing brain put them together."

His hands clap together, and he continues, "But _that _is not the problem! _This _is the problem!"

He picks a fish finger sitting by a bowl of custard, and wiggles it in front of my face.

"A fish finger?" I ask, genuinely confused.

"Ah, no," He replies, and then looks at the fish finger with narrowed eyes. "I actually thought it was—never mind." He takes a large bite of the fish finger, and continues with his mouth full, "There's a book! A book that she was reading. I've read it before, too. Er, purple cover, with black streams of airy whoosh-whoosh stuff on it, you know? Pretty good book, actually. Terrible beginning, though...but after that it got better and better."

While he was talking about this, an image popped into my head, and I remembered it: The book he was talking about. I had seen Dawn reading it in the console room the other day. She had said the same thing: Terrible beginning, but it was getting much better.

"Yes, you know what I'm talking about now, don't you?" The Doctor asks. I nod. "So! In that book, the characters are caught in a sort of...physic link. Think about...apples! No, no, don't think about apples...that doesn't work. Anyway, characters, caught in a physic link. And one of them is a sort of physic vampire-ish thing. He needs physic energy from other people to survive. So he sucks their physic energy, and they gradually grow weaker, but he grows stronger, until the physic link finally breaks, which is when someone in the link dies."

I stare at him, my eyes wide. He continues:

"ANYWAY! That's what happens. The ending was good, though. But still. Dawn, without knowing about it, was thinking about this physic-link thing in the back of her mind. She just finished the book last night, so it's still lingering a little. And BAM! You have a fear. Only it's not really physic energy, it's just...energy. Without the physic."

"So let me get this straight," I say before he can get anything else in. "Because Nitero didn't show me all of this. She just showed me a few pictures. No in-depth explanation. But Dawn and I are caught in a telepathic link, and I'm basically feeding off of her life source?"

"Yes," The Doctor replies, nodding. "And to top it all off, your nanogenes aren't working anymore because you had to go and fear it!" He throws his hands in the air, and starts messing around with the computer again.

"So what do we _do?_" I ask, and I hope he couldn't hear the desperateness in my voice.

"We do our original plan: Set up the machine," He holds up the Feather Crystal. "And eliminate all of the Shadies. Dawn is all-better, your nanogenes work again, and the sun comes back. Except now we're on a time limit."

"What do you mean?"

"We have one hour," he replies. "Maximum. Until you take her life source completely."

"Wonderful," I reply sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

• • •

**Hey, it's a longer chapter than usual! Yay! :D**

**Again, super sorry for the extra week wait. I fail. It's been SO busy this semester...at least it's almost done. But then I have next semester. Ew. **

**ANYWAY. Hope that last part wasn't TOO confusing for you. Gimme a review, and I'll try to fix it! :)**


	33. Chapter 32: For Richer or Poor

**Heyyyy everybody!**

**Whoa, a Monday update? Yeah, I finished this Saturday, and realized last night at one o'clock that I forgot to post it. lol. :P**

**How are you guys doing? I'm good, thanks for asking. ha ha. ;P**

**I kind of failed at replying to your reviews this time around. Sorry, everybody. My fault. I **_**thought**_** I did, and then I totally forgot to reply to all of them. :P**

**I also have been butchering my steady once a week update thing lately. Sorry. Again. I'm involved in this big musical thing and don't have as much time to write. :(**

**So you guys remember how at the beginning of this adventure I was talking about the Doctor repairing some frayed wires with peanut butter? Well, I was drawing a picture of Dawn's TARDIS, and I drew a jar of peanut butter sitting next to it with some wires sticking out of it, just for fun. ;P **

**Sorry. Random/strange fact about my life right there. Hope it made you smile a little. ;)**

**Well. Not much else to say about this chapter. ENJOY! :)**

**For Richer or Poor**

**Dusk's POV-**

The Doctor and I were now in the laboratory, putting final touches on the machine, and getting it ready for the crystal, when I realized something.

"Doctor...if Dawn feared...well, you know, whatever we're going to call what's going on right now, then why hasn't the sun come back?" I asked while fixing some frayed wires with peanut butter.

"Good question!" He exclaims, and races to the other side of the machine to make a few more minor adjustments. "See, the Shadies have started mutating. I'll try to explain it simply: There are quipods in the air interfering with the fractons, which means that the melectulicture atoms are being infected, which causes the scrantle system to scramble, which causes the Shadie's molecular structure to, well, mutate!"

I gave him a blank stare, and replied, "I don't speak Toudichdatonasdfif."

"Oh, that wasn't anything _near_ Toudichdatonasdfif."

"Wait...that's an actual language?"

"Yes, of course. But if you were trying to say that you speak _English, _then here's how I'd explain _very _simply: Basically, because science is sort of being bent, the Shadies are starting to figure out that if there are huge numbers of them, they can occupy several of a person's fears at once."

"Oh. Thanks."

"No problem. Now, do me a favor, and hand me that shoe," The Doctor says, and points to a tennis shoe that was resting on the console. I handed it to him, and he threw it at the console.

"What was that for?" I asked, and affectionately patted the piece of junk we had worked so hard on.

"I saw a spider," He replied. "And spiders are _not _cool."

Just then, I looked at one of the multiple computer screens in front of me. A confused look found its way across my face. "Doctor, what's that?"

On each computer screen of the console, the repeated numbers, five, three, five, three, flashed across the screen.

"Another good question! See-," Then, he abruptly cuts off. After a few seconds, he finally answers, "I don't...know. I don't know what it is. Maybe some system malfunction or something."

"Oh," I replied.

_Fifty-three _continued to flash across the screen. I wondered what it meant.

I heard someone clear their throat from the doorway, and turned to see River.

"Doctor, can you help?" She asks a little anxiously. "Dawn isn't waking up."

Without glancing at me, he replies, "I can try."

They leave together, and I wonder what I'm supposed to do now, when the Doctor suddenly comes back, pokes his head around the corner of the doorway, and says, "Try, try, _try _not to think about her. Just...hit the machine a few times. See if you can get the whole fifty-three thing to go away. Keep pasting wires together with peanut butter."

I nod, and go back to work, all the while listening for some sign that Dawn was going to wake up.

• • •

**Dawn's POV-**

My lips were dry and parched. My senses were very dull, but I could hear and feel some things. There were people murmuring in the background, and I could feel something cold and somewhat soft on my forehead. A cloth, maybe?

Oh, yeah. That's what that's called. A cloth.

_Where am I?_ I wondered.

I suddenly realized it was very quiet. The murmuring had stopped.

Then I felt something cold and smooth touch my lips, and then there was liquid in my mouth. It was cold at first, but then it became really, really, really hot.

I abruptly sat up, fanning my mouth with my hand. My eyes fluttered open, and I looked around the room. Images came rushing into my brain, and I realized where I was and what I was doing here.

Dad was standing over me, on the left side of the bed I was lying on. River was at the foot of the bed, and Lexie was on my other side holding a flashlight and staring at me, wide-eyed.

"Ah, see, River? What did I tell you! Salsa, custard, and sacrahitionalition acid always do the trick!" The Doctor exclaims, and claps his hands together.

I gag, and cry, "You made me drink _sacrahitionalition acid!" _

"Yes," He replies. "Er, you'll want to wash your mouth out with some soap when we're done here."

Suddenly, I heard a large bangfrom outside the room. A little frantically, I looked around, wondering what could be wrong.

"What has that-," He cut off abruptly, and after pausing continued, "I'm going to go check that out. River, Lexie, you stay here and look after-," He cut off yet again with a glance from River. I couldn't read the expression on her face, but it seemed that the Doctor could, and once again, he corrected himself: "Sorry, never mind. Lexie, River, you two go check on what that might have been. I'll stay here with Dawn." He turns to me, and says, "We can't be sure you're completely stable yet."

"What exactly happened, again?" I asked. "It's a little fuzzy..."

Dad ignores my question, pretending to be interested in some of the sheets on a nearby bed. Lexie and River left without a sound.

I suddenly realized I was in the guest room that Lexie had told me about earlier. Had it really been so short since then? Maybe a few hours? It felt so far away.

"Everyone is in panic outside," Dad says, and there was just a hint of laughter in his voice. "Apparently, they have all pictured some sort of alien they've heard of or seen in a book or movie." He smiled bitterly. "We're barely even safe in here anymore. Lexie chose a good location for her base, though, I must admit."

I cut him off before he could continue further. "You're babbling. I know you well enough to know that means something is very wrong."

He didn't reply, but looked at the floor, instead, as if very interested in the dust bunny that was running across it.

"Doctor!" I shouted to him, and his head snapped up. "That was a question. Tell. Me. What. Is. Wrong." I growled the words out, separating each one so he could hear me very clearly.

"You don't remember?" He asks.

I rack my brain for what happened. I remember looking at a screen with little green dots on it, and then River Song, Lexie, and...and...well, they busted through the door. And then I started to feel really dizzy, and I fell, and someone caught me.

_No. Back up, _my brain told me. _I'm missing something. _

River Song, Lexie, and...there was someone else. The _three _of them came through the door. But who was the third person?

"Stop!" Dad said a little harshly, and put a hand on my shoulder, breaking me free of the dream-like state. "It's better you _don't _remember."

I was frustrated, so I didn't reply. But I did follow his advice, and didn't think about the third person anymore.

But who could it be? What was their name?

_This is only the beginning. _

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. That wasn't _my _thought.

_This is only the beginning. _

The voice came again.

I said the words aloud. "This is only the beginning."

"Hm?" The Doctor asks.

"There's a voice. In my head. Saying that," I replied. I frowned, didn't look at Dad, and continued, "Doctor, I'm kind of...scared."

At this point, we made eye contact. There was something in his eyes I couldn't read. Pity? Sadness? Admiration? Regret? I couldn't figure it out.

He came to sit on the edge of my bed, and gently squeezed my hand.

"You'll be fine."

"That's what you always say to companions. And then they end up dying or something."

He didn't reply.

"Have you heard anything from Amy?" I ask, trying to change the subject a little.

The Doctor shakes his head.

"She'll be fine," I say, and almost laugh at the irony of my choice of words.

He glances at me, and smiles briefly. "You know, I don't understand why everyone is so afraid of dying. I mean, if the religion like Christianity is true, you go to heaven. And if not, well, what's the worst thing that could happen? You don't feel death. You don't feel anything. You aren't alive, so why would you?"

I nod, and sighed, "Yeah...but still, being alive is more fun."

He laughs quietly, and replies, "I guess so."

I was about to say something else, when I felt a sharp pain in my head. Instinctively, my hand flashed to my forehead, and I grimaced.

"What's wrong?" I hear Dad vaguely ask.

Images were flying into my mind, and I reply through gritted teeth, "You're right Doctor, it would have been better if I hadn't remembered."

I remembered the third person now. It was Dusk. He must have thought of me, because I definitely didn't think of him. But it still triggered the whole Shady-telepathic-field-with-Dusk-draining-my-life-away-thing all over again.

I suddenly grew very tired, and the pain ebbed away a little.

"I told that boy _not _to think of you," Dad said, shaking his head.

"It's not his fault!" I snapped. "I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about him if the situation were the other way around!"

Despite the tense situation, the Doctor smiles a little smugly. I realized what I had said, and quickly correct myself.

"I mean, not in that way. I-I would be worried about his s-safety and stuff."

I could feel my cheeks grow a little warm, but ignored it, as Dad said, "Right, it's going to start happening faster now, because you both are thinking about each other. That's why you're so tired. So...get some sleep. Maybe that will make it slow down."

"Doctor...what if I don't wake up?"

"You will. The Feather Crystal should be ready to use with the machine now, and we'll increase the power. I'll make sure it kills every single Shady. And then you'll wake up."

"Promise?"

"Of course. Now get some sleep."

"Okay..."

And with a tired sigh, I lay back down in the bed, and was immediately out.

_This is only the beginning.._

**Whoa. New prophecy. ;)**

**I meant for this to be the last chapter of this Shady adventure, but I decided that would be a better point to end it. **

**So. Did you like the chapter? I hope so. Next chapter **_**should **_**be the end of this adventure. And then I **_**think **_**it's the 'season finale.' But I'm thinking about squeezing in one more adventure just for you guys...maybe. :D**

**You guys all understand my system, right? I refer to this **_**whole**_** book as, well, 'the book.' And then there are chapters, which are CHAPTERS, obviously. The only part that might be a little confusing is what I call adventures...they're like, bunches of chapters. Just think of adventures like episodes in the series, and you'll be all good. ;) **

**I just wanted to explain that, because I've been seeing a little confusion lately with some people thinking that an 'adventure' means the whole book. But it doesn't. Hope I didn't just confuse you more. ;P**

**ANYWAY. Hope you enjoyed this. Next chapter will be intense. ;) Review, please!**


	34. Chapter 33: Til Death Do Us Part

**Hey everybody!**

**I'm going to try super duper hard to post this, like...soon. :D Because I've been failing all of you lovely people lately. ;P**

**Sorry about all the switching of POV's this chapter...it's necessary. ;)**

**Anyway. Hope you like this chapter. :)**

**ENJOY!**

'**Til Death Do Us Part**

**Dusk's POV-**

"So what am I supposed to do with this again?" I ask, looking at the Doctor. I was holding some sort of mix between a wrench and a taco.

"Er, connect it to the blue friction retractors and pull one hundred-sixty degrees to the right."

I looked over at River. She sighed, and explained, "Put the hard end there, and the fluffy end there, and then turn it toward the door."

I smiled appreciatively, and completed the task. The Doctor muttered a few words under his breath, and I grinned wider at his use of language.

Lexie, who was next to him, also heard, and snickered a little.

"Right then," The Doctor mumbled. "We should be ready now. I just have to flick this switch, and poof! All of the Shadies disappear. Now cover your ears, and let's hope this..."

He paused, and then finished, "Let's hope this works."

I caught the hesitation. Something was wrong.

The flashlights we had in the room flickered a few times. There was a strange gust of wind that came from nowhere, and I saw dark figures crawling around. A few of them rushed right past me, and my head hurt like crazy. I caught a touch of Dawn's feelings in the back of my head, and the Shady inside of my brain screamed in longing, trying to make me think more of Dawn so that it could feed off of her life source faster.

My head burned as I tried to fight it off. I held a hand up to my forehead to try and reduce the pain a little.

Finally, the flashlights stopped flickering, and the Shadies were gone.

"Doctor," I spat through gritted teeth. "What was that?"

River and the Doctor both had grave faces. Lexie's eyes were wide with confusion. I don't think she had any idea what had happened, either.

The Shady seemed to pound against my brain, but I continued to ignore it.

"What is going on?" I repeated.

"I'm sorry," The Doctor said. "I'm very, truly sorry."

"Doctor, you-"River." He interrupted. "Don't even bother..."

"But Doctor, you can-"River!" He said it harshly this time. She glared at him, but I could also see the slight hurt that tainted her gaze.

That was when I saw the feather crystal, on the floor. It had shattered into countless pieces.

"Did the Shadies do that?" I asked with a lump in my throat.

River nodded. The Doctor was silent, but I could see that he was tense, shaking with anger and exasperation.

"NO!" He suddenly shouted, and then started rushing around the console again. "There's got to be another way to defeat them. There's got to. There is always. A. Way. Out."

I didn't pay attention to the next few seconds. I only vaguely sensed River and the Doctor trying to make adjustments so that the machine would take energy out of several little pieces. After a while, the Doctor gave up trying to get me to help him.

I blocked out the noise. I blocked out the angry aura that swirled off of the Doctor. I ignored everything.

It was suddenly so clear to me; it was like a pin dropping in the silence.

Something had changed. Something was very, very wrong.

I ran to the room Dawn was resting in.

• • •

**Dawn's POV-**

I slept, and dreamt, also. The Dreams were strange dreams, ones that I not only were dreaming, but also felt vaguely conscious in at the same time. Like it was real, but...not real.

I was losing it, that much I knew and felt through the conscious parts of my dream. Bits and pieces of my memories were floating away, and I was losing feeling in my toes and fingers. Was this what it must have felt like to Sammy, the main character in the book I had finished that other day? Having your life source sucked away is...strange.

_He_ broke a promise. He said he would wake me up. I don't think he will be able to.

Suddenly, something cold touched my hand. Or was it my arm? I...can't tell.

There was a...voice? Yes, a voice. That's what it's called.

"You'll regenerate, right?" It asked. "You have to. You just have to."

The voice was strained, and...concerned. I struggle to find the correct words to describe it.

Regenerate...I knew that word. What did it mean, again? I forget...and I'm too tired to think about it right now. Besides, this is only a dream, right? So what's the point of thinking about things that don't exist?

"Dawn, please," The voice croaked. "Wake up. Please?"

Dawn? Dawn...I know that name. Who is this Dawn that the voice is speaking of? I have forgotten.

Suddenly, there was another voice. I recognized it slightly, like the other one, but I couldn't place a name on it.

"What are you doing here?"

"I had to see her. Once more."

"You're making it worse!"

There was a shuffling noise, and suddenly, I felt cold breath tickle my ear as the voice spoke.

"Dawn, listen. Hang in there. Just sleep. Don't think. It will kill you faster."

The original voice spoke again. "She's dying, isn't she?"

Silence.

"I was starting to like you a lot," the other voice suddenly whispered very, very softly. "You reminded me of...well. That doesn't really matter now, does it?"

The keeper of the voice squeezed my hand, and walked away again.

Then, he said to the other voice, "Don't speak. She's forgetting about you now. I know it's going to be hard, but you have to just leave her be, until we figure out a way to solve this."

"Doctor, I-"Shh. Don't argue. Listen to me. You have to go. I know you love her, but-,"

"What?" The voice exclaimed quietly. "I don't-."

The voice broke off. I sensed that the other voice must have made a gesture to quiet the voice who was speaking of love.

"How...?"

"Humans aren't the only ones who can fall in love. I've experienced it before." He broke off, and then said, "Now, let's go."

Love...I know that word, too. But I couldn't place a finger on that, either.

_Frustrating, _I thought.

Oh, hey! I can think!

But this is all a dream...right? So I'll remember what it is when I wake up.

There was a nagging sensation in the back of my head. I needed to know what love was. The sense just wouldn't go away.

_No, do not think, _I told myself. _Sleep...like he said...just...sleep. _

• • •

**Lexie's POV-**

River quietly gave me directions to help, once again, fix the machine.

We were waiting for the Doctor and Dusk to come back. Dusk had run out of the room almost immediately after the Crystal had been destroyed, and the Doctor had followed him soon after, asking River to take charge.

I wondered how this was going to end. Over the past few days, River had hinted to me several times about how big of a hero the Doctor was, and, still is.

But could the Almighty-Doctor save us from this one?

For the first time in a while, I was very, very afraid.

Suddenly, there was a big _bang _noise in the main room. I flinched when I heard a loud exclamation that sounded somewhat like the Doctor.

With a glance at River, who nodded, I rushed out to the main room.

It was a strange scene in there. Through the light of my flashlight, I could see squirrels were...well..._everywhere. _And...

"Are those _jellyfish?_" I cried, staring at the strange, flopping pink things on the floor.

"Shadies!" The Doctor replied. "But I have a...fear...of...jellyfish!" He was spinning around in circles, pointing his sonic screwdriver, and flashlight, at the jellyfish. "Especially when they are out of water! And the squirrels...well, those are because of Dusk."

While giggling at the scene, I suddenly heard a quiet gasp from Dusk. He was looking at something on the wall. I followed his eyesight, and saw a thin, red crack engraved in the wall. It was glowing through the darkness.

"But that-," I didn't finish the sentence, but started walking toward Dusk. "That's the crack! The one that like, swallowed me up and stuff and spat me out in Chanatopia!"

Dusk nods curtly.

"How did I not notice it?" I ask no one in particular. My voice was quiet. I didn't even recognize it.

"Maybe it's not even really there," He replies, shrugging his shoulders. "Could be a fear, after all." After pausing, he adds, "Only one way to find out."

In one swift movement, he picked up a left over fish finger that was on the floor and threw it into the crack.

Sure enough, the crack was real. When the fish stick went inside, the crack quickly began to seal itself back up.

"Well, that will feed someone...somewhere...sometime," He jokes. But there was no humor in his voice.

"But how...why...what?" I ask, struggling for words.

Dusk shrugs coolly again.

"How are so _calm?_" I cry. "There's been a crack, right _there, _for who knows how long, and I've never even noticed it! I mean, what the heck?"

He shrugs. Yet again.

"Are you okay?" I ask. I could feel the concern painted across my face.

He was about to reply when the Doctor yelled in surprise.

We both whipped around to see a jellyfish inching it's way toward him. I sighed, pulled a handgun that was resting on a computer console nearby, aimed, and fired.

The Doctor jumped back in surprise as the green beam shot the jellyfish. Then, he bitterly told me, "I. Don't. Like. Guns."

"But you would have been eaten by the jellyfish!" I cried.

"Jellyfish don't eat people."

"Lies."

He glared at me. We both knew that nowadays, jellyfish had mutated so much that they could eat people whole.

Suddenly, Dusk spoke up.

"Doctor," Was all he said. But I could hear the urgency and pain in his cracked voice.

The Doctor looked up at Dusk, and, once again, they both rushed toward the room Dawn was staying in.

I frowned, sighed, and, thinking the worst, started to silently kill off the rest of the squirrels and jellyfish.

• • •

**Dusk's POV-**

I paced back and forth outside of Dawn's door. The Doctor had told me to wait outside, and that he would deal with things.

"Try to keep your mind off of her," He had said. "It will help."

I don't think he knows how hard that is to do.

And then, suddenly, he was back. In the hallway.

"You can come in. It's not really going to matter much anymore," He murmured.

I walked into the room slowly. He stood in the doorway, wearing that one sad, heart-breaking look he can pull off perfectly.

Dawn was sitting on the bed. She was very pale. Very motionless.

Very little alive.

_She has to regenerate, right? _I thought. _She will...she has to. _

I slowly walked toward the bed she was lying on, and sat down next to it. My eyes watered a little. I couldn't lose her now! She was my best friend, and the only friend I had had in a while! And even so, we still get along perfectly! She was like...my other half.

I didn't cry. I just simply looked at her.

After a few seconds, I shifted my gaze to the Doctor's face.

"Would it be okay to touch her?" I ask softly.

"It doesn't matter now," He says again, shrugging sadly.

I pursed my lips, and gently reached out to grab her hand and squeeze it softly.

_Dawn, listen to me, _I thought inside of my head. I grasped at the tiny feeling of her that was left in the bottom of my stomach. There was still a chance that maybe..._maybe_, she could still hear me.

_Dawn, please, _please_ don't die. You're my best friend. And even if I had other friends, you'd still be the best. You're like a part of me that's been missing since...well, forever. And I honestly don't _know _what like, well, you know...romance, or, that kind of love feels like. It confuses me...I mean, maybe I do feel it, who knows, but...well... I know what it feels like to love a family member or friend. And I love you. So, _so _much. Please, don't die. Please._

I spoke the last word in my head, and desperately hoped that she still had enough energy to piece the words together.

I held my breath. Waiting for something, _anything_, to happen.

Just as I was about to give up, to surrender, to say that she was, in fact...gone, Dawn Melody started to glow.

I stood there in absolute silence, staring at her figure. She was most definitely glowing.

The Doctor rushed to my side as a bright light filled the entire room, and the world went white.

**Okay. That was...tiring. :D**

**Sorry if it's complete rubbish. I tried, okay? ;P**

**And yeah, I know. I meant for this to be the last chapter of this adventure. But I think I've discovered that I hate writing chapters that are more that six pages, especially if I have someone read the chapters. I need to fix this problem. ;P **

**So. Next chapter SHOULD be the last one of this adventure.**

**Ughhhhh.. You guys are special. I'm losing sleep over you, trying to figure out how to make my season finale epic. ;P Hope you love it, or else it won't be worth it. **

**So, I have a question: How many of you loved the companion Rose Tyler? Give me some opinions and stuff. I'm probably going to do some companion polls every chapter now. ;P Just for fun.**

**Anyway! Review, please! :)**


	35. Chapter 34: Hope

**Hola sinors and sinoritas!**

**Not sure if I spelled that right...I've been speaking a lot of Spanish lately. And the funny thing is I'm going to take a French class soon. lol. **

**ANYWAY! Don't expect another update for another while after this one. :( My musical got pushed back a week, and so did all of my other concerts...MER! :( But hopefully after that I'll be able to update once a week. And in the summer...expect LOTS of updates. :)**

**For this chapter, you may want to look back at the first chapter of the adventure. There's some stuff I mentioned back there that will be useful up here. ;)**

**So. I left you on a mean cliffie last time, and I guess I should let you read...ENJOY! :D**

**Chapter 34: Hope**

**Dusk's POV-**

The light left as quickly as it came. Dawn practically leaped out of the bed she had been laying in a few seconds ago.

The Doctor and I stared, wide-eyed, at her.

"What?" She asks, brushing her fiery red bangs out of her eyes with her left hand that was no long pale. "Did I forget, like, pants, or something?"

Dawn pauses, and then her face lit up in realization. "Right! I just basically came back to life, didn't I?" She asks, and then continues to explain, "Well, see, not exactly. I came back from _near _death. And then I remembered..." She trailed off.

I narrowed my eyes, still confused, but extremely happy. "So how-,"

"That doesn't matter right now," She cuts me off, and pushes a finger to my lips. I pull away, just as she says, "What _does _matter, is this: I need a megaphone."

"A megaphone?" The Doctor asks.

"Yes. Meh-gah-phone. You know, like a microphone, only cooler looking."

"But why-?"

"Just get me the megaphone! And a sandwich, too, I'm really hungry," She giggles, and with a slightly puzzled look, the Doctor somewhat stumbles out of the room, murmuring something like, "beneath the console..." under his breath.

Dawn begins to rush around the room, finding the most random items possible under the bed: Sneakers, a toothbrush, _more _peanut butter...and the list continued.

Finally, I asked, "Can I have an...Explanation?"

"I didn't regenerate, if that's what you're asking," Dawn replies, and starts to take the shoelaces from the sneakers.

"Then what happened? How did you...live?" I paused, and then realized that might sound like an insult, so I added, "I mean, I'm really, really glad that you're alive and all, but...?"

She points at another sneaker, and I start untying that shoelace for her. I sat down on the bed, still trying to figure it all out.

After a moment, Dawn replied, "I was losing my memories and feelings while you were...killing...me. And after a while, I started trying to remember what love felt like. I finally remembered it about a minute ago. And then came these other emotions: Hope, joy, happiness...and I knew I was going to live. I just _knew _it. And so here I am."

"Well, that's great, but how did that save you?" I ask, and Dawn hands me a peanut butter jar. I unscrew the cap, and hand it back to her.

"How did you _do _that?" She asks, mystified.

"Do what?"

"Unscrew that thing. I swear, it was sealed with a prokaryotic ray!"

I smiled down at her, and shook my head.

"Anyway. I have a theory about how exactly it happened. Shadies feed off of fear, right?"

I nod in reply, and she continues while fiddling with some of the things we had found.

"But they're called Ancient Organisms of Darkness, which implies that they are not just feared, but simply downright _dark. _You know, evil, bad, scary, yada yada yada. So, what defeats things like fears? Love, hope, happiness, all the good stuff. Therefore, if one thinks of things like love, hope, and happiness around a Shady, the Shady is destroyed. Concentrate, Dusk. How long has it been since your head was throbbing?"

It was then that I noticed she was right: My head felt very clear, and light. I smiled.

"And how about down here?" She playfully pokes my stomach. I couldn't feel the Shady, or _her, _for that matter, in the pit of my stomach anymore either.

"Anyway, the whole problem is that I don't think anyone _has_ ever figured out about the cure. Because when one thing goes wrong, or a fear comes true, then it's hard to make yourself happy, right? And then everything else starts to wrong, until, well..."

She shrugs, and concludes with, "That's still a theory, though. What happens next will be the real test."

"What are you going to do?" I ask.

"_We _are all going to create our own human-powered Sonic disintegrator. But first..." She squeezed her eyes shut, and a look of concentration crossed over her face. Then, the lights, which had been out for since Dawn had feared them, came back on. And a few seconds later, sunlight streamed through the window.

"How did you _do _that?" I ask.

"Not so much of a theory anymore, eh?" She replies to my question with another question. "Now, come on. Let's go see if the Doctor has my megaphone yet...and a tuna sandwich. Have I ever told you about my obsession over tuna? It's lovely, really, truly lovely."

• • •

**Dawn's POV-**

"Doctor!" I cried as we entered the main room. "Where's my meh-gah-phone? And my sammich?"

Dad tossed me the megaphone. I quickly caught it, and started hooking up the device Dusk and I had put together to it.

"Did you notice the lights came back on?" Lexie asks from across the room.

"Yes, I did. In fact, I was the one who turned them back on," I reply. Before she can ask why, I whine loudly, "DOCTOR! Where is my sammich?"

He throws a paper baggy at me. I open it, and inside there is a sandwich. I ravenously take a large bite, and then immediately spit it out in disgust.

"Ugh. Ham."

"What did you expect?" He asks.

"Tuna."

"Tuna? You like _tuna? _ Of all the ridiculous..." He trails off, and I shake my head at him.

"Alright! Everybody, gather 'round. Here's how it's going to work: It's really a very simple solution. All you have to do is think of something that makes you happy! Like, extremely, immensely happy! _Legitly _happy!"

River interrupts, and asks, "How did you wake up?"

"That is not important. What is important is that we are all legitly happy, because the solution to this whole mess is really very simple!" I explain to her quickly.

I realized that Dusk was giving me this weird look, and so I ask, "What?"

"Nothing," He replies, shaking his head. "You just haven't been this hyper in a while."

"It's been practically- three, right? —months since you last saw me. _Elizabeth _probably wasn't as cool or awesome as I am...in a hyper-active crazy way."

Dusk smiled his signature lop-sided grin. I felt my cheeks grow a little warm.

WHOA! BLUSHING IS DEFINITELY NOT COOL!

...since when did I start blushing? Meh...must be a side effect of hunger.

At this point, the Doctor spoke up. "Wait, what do you mean by it's been three months since-,"

"Doctor. Please. Can you. Shut. _Up," _I growled briefly.

"Anyway! So, think of something happy. And pass it on. Go through the whole town, and just tell everyone to think of something happy. When you think of something happy, the Shadies go away. Because what's the opposite of fear and hate and all that stuff? Well, you probably get it by now."

I paused, looking at everyone's reactions. River was smiling, Dad still had that cross between anger and amazement painted across his face, and Lexie was looking terribly excited.

"So it's kind of like Pandora's box?" The Doctor asks.

I almost choked on air. "Y-You know, it's really ironic you say that...see-," I cut off when River coughed. We exchanged a knowing look, and I took a sharp breath in. "Right then. Sorry. I didn't just say that."

It looked like Dad was going to say something again, but Lexie interrupted, and asked, "So...what's that for?" She points at the contraption I had put together with the megaphone and various other items.

"Oh, this?" I ask, and hold it up for everyone to look at. "Just in case people don't believe us. And then, well...you'll see."

Everyone was silent for a second. I looked around at each person's face, and saw mixtures of several thousand emotions on them. I lingered two seconds longer on Dusk's face, and then went straight back to talking.

"So, are we all good?" I ask. "Ready to get out there?"

"Wait," Mum says. "We might want these." She hands each of us a communicator.

"Great. I'll take the middle of town, Dusk, you take the east, Lexie take west, River take south, and Doctor...take north."

Everyone nodded.

"You know...that was a lot easier than I expected. Probably because you're all in a sort of shock right now. Tell you what: go out there, beat down some Shadies with our epic legit happiness, and then I'll tell you what happened."

Dusk, River, Dad, and Lexie all visibly relaxed a little. I shook my head, smiling at their silliness.

I practically skipped out of HQ, holding the large megaphone in my hands. When no one else started moving, I held it up to my mouth, and pressed the button. It made a squeaky noise, and then I shouted into it, "Move, people, move! Remember, happy thoughts! Nothing can defeat us now!"

And as I continued to skip out of the building, I could've sworn I heard the Doctor say, "She's definitely one of a kind."

• • •

So, maybe I _kind of _lied to them.

I was definitely using the megaphone. No longer was it an "only if" situation. Now, it was legitly legit.

You know, I kind of like that word. It's legit.

I was out in the middle of the city. It was mass chaos everywhere! Alien space ships were in the sky, people were running down the streets, trying to dodge various gun beams, and just crazy things happened.

I almost laughed when I saw a piano fall from a really tall building. Whoever thought that up is legit.

One loud scream in particular caught my attention. I looked to my right, which was where the scream came from, and saw a woman surrounded by a ring of fire. It was quickly closing in on her.

Yay! My first victim!

I ran over to her, all the while shouting, "Think of something happy!"

The woman was dressed in the normal clothing for people on Skagan: Shorts, a t-shirt...but both articles were very tattered. She had long black hair, and pale skin.

"What?" She asked as I came closer.

"Think of something happy!" I replied loud and clear.

"Why?" She asked desperately as the fire continued to close in. It was about five feet away from her now.

"Just do it! Do you have a kid? Do you like it when they laugh? How about a husband? A great job? Do you love ice cream? Tuna? The word legit?"

The woman squeezed her eyes shut, and, surprisingly, listened to me. Soon enough, the fire started to sparkle, and then practically disappeared, except for little black mud traces it left behind.

"See, that wasn't that hard, was it?" I ask breathlessly.

The woman hesitantly opens here eyes, and then takes in a gasp of air. "How did you...?" She asks.

"I didn't do that," I reply, smiling. "It was all you. Now, what's your name?"

"Lethina," She replies, sticking out a hand for me to shake.

"Pretty name, Lethina. Now, go help everyone else who is in trouble, also. Tell them exactly what I told you. Trust me, the stranger. Everything is going to be okay," I smiled when she nodded, and ran off.

Great! I forgot how trusting and calm Skagan people are...that's helpful.

I held up the communicator to my mouth, and pressed the button that called everyone. "Hi, how you guys doing?" I ask into it.

After a few seconds, Lexie replied, "I'm good. I just saved a little boy from a giant dinosaur."

"Hey, that's great!" I giggle. "Someone around here pictured a piano falling off a roof."

"Ha!" Lexie laughs into the receiver. "That's a classic!"

"Girls!" Dad's voice crackled into the speaker. I jumped a little. "Stop playing around, and go help people!"

"How are you doing, Doctor?" I ask, the hint of a smile in my voice.

"Fine. You?"

"Great. Has anyone heard from Dusk or River yet?"

"I'm here," River's voice suddenly comes through, and I smile. "But I haven't heard anything from Dusk."

"Hm, he'll be fine," I reply. "Okay, I'd better get back to it. There's a person over there trying to deal with some...well...you don't really want to know."

• • •

It went on like that for the next half hour. Everyone was working together, figuring out happy memories. It really was the pure sign of hope and happiness, to see people join together and fight their fears.

Whoa! I didn't even know I was that deep!

My meh-gah-phone did come in handy eventually. I had to scream at some people to move out of the way of a giant boulder rolling down the street. Somehow, it was also singing Christmas carols.

...how do people come up with these things?

Just after I was done screaming at them, there was a sudden crackle and a squeaky noise coming from my communicator. "Hullo?" I asked into it.

No reply. Just some more crackles and squeaks.

"Hm...Must be something-," I cut off when I actually _did _hear a voice from the receiver.

"...help...prison...Shadies...trouble!..."

In between each words were crackles of the receiver, until finally, at the end, there was a long squeak, and then silence.

I took in a shaky breath when I realized that it sounded like Dusk.

Quickly, I held down the button that only contacted Dusk's receiver. There was complete silence on the other side of the line.

"Hello?" I ask into it. "Dusk, can you hear me? It's Dawn!"

No reply. I lifted my finger off of that button, and then held down three others, which contacted River, Dad, and Lexie.

"Hey, guys. Were you getting the weird crackling noises, too?" I ask. There were a few seconds before anyone replied.

"What noises?" Lexie asks.

"I didn't hear any," River replies.

"Nope," Dad said.

_So Dusk must have only pressed the Communicator Two button...which is my button. _

"Just curious. How are you guys doing?"

"Great," Lexie replied. "Actually, I think everyone here is okay for now."

"Lexie, think you can cover the middle of town for a few minutes?" I ask. "There's something I want to check out."

"Sure, I'm on my way," Lexie replies.

Without replying, I shove the communicator back into my pocket. That was when I realized the signs.

Each and every sign, whether it was supposed to a speed limit or an advertisement, said either "Red Snake," or the number 53.

"Whoa," I whispered. "Bad Wolf De Jå vu..."

I remembered the Mazai prophecy just as my vision blurred a little, and they all turned back into their normal image.

"Well that was weird," I whispered.

My vision blurred again, and I saw the image of a large field with a big, shady looking building in the middle of it. People were running all over it, and many of the people were also dark and shady looking.

Once again, the blurriness subsided, and I could see where _I _was again.

"Where did that come from?" I ask myself. "Strange..."

And then, yet again, another image occupied my sights. A glowing figure. A very familiar glowing figure...could it be?

"Oh!" I gasp, as my vision comes back. "No...it can't be...can it? Is it possible to _try _to communicate? He's to far away...right?"

I paused for a moment, and then told myself, "Are you kidding me? He could probably build a legit tower out of jello and glue...if he wanted to."

Without another thought, I sprinted toward the first vehicle I saw: A flying motorcycle.

"OMIGOSH!" I cried. "I'm...HAGRID! Except a lot smaller...but STILL! HAGRID!"

I boarded the motorcycle, and kicked it into first gear. Pulling up on the atomalical bar, I flew a little higher, and then shifted into the accelerated style.

I had forgotten that the biggest international prison in the world was here...and that it was on the east side of the town, in the middle of a field. It was also the place I had sent Dusk to help with. He probably felt like helping the people there...too bad they're all prisoners. And one of the guards just _had _to fear all of the prisoners getting out, didn't they?

Stupid guards.

• • •

**Sorry. Another sort-of-kind-of cliffhanger there. :P But hey, what can I say? I want to keep you interested. ;P**

**I referenced Harry Potter...that's what the whole Hagrid with the motorcycle thing was about. :) kudos to anyone who understands it. :D**

**Anyway...Dawn was super duper hyper and silly in this chapter. And yes, legit is one of **_**our **_**favorite words. It's very legit. :D**

**And yay, this is a pretty long chapter! :D I know I said this would be the last chapter of this adventure but...I had a sudden burst of inspiration and had to put this next part in here. :D**

**So, I liked reading your reviews and thoughts about Rose last chapter. Here's our next companion:**

**Donna. Nobel. :D**

**Personally, I love her. But what do you think?**

**REVIEW! :)**


	36. Chapter 35: Ice Cream!

**Read this chapter first, and I'll explain my long absence at the bottom... **

**Chapter 35: Ice cream!**

**Dawn's POV-**

The motorcycle sputtered for a few moments, and, then, with a few squeaks, cluttered to the ground. I jumped off of the almost-broken machine while it was still flying, and ended up facedown in the mud.

I lifted my head up slowly, and wiped some of the mud off of my face.

"Really?" I ask to no one in particular. "_Really_?"

Turns out, I'm horribly awful at driving flying motorcycles.

Then, remembering the situation, I quickly stood up, jogged like a hyper little maniac in place for a moment, and then stood still again, wondering what to do first.

I looked at my surroundings. I was standing on a hill. Below me was the prison, and to the west were a few little houses. One of them was on fire, and the other three looked extremely close to falling over. Some prisoners were running toward the village, but most were trying to deal with all of the guards. I saw some unlucky citizens caught in the mess, also. My eyes began to desperately search for Dusk.

When I couldn't find him after about one minute, I wondered what exactly I was supposed to do about this situation, anyway. I mean, think of something happy, and then poof! All the prisoners are back in jail!

Oh, hey! That's it, right? All of the prisoners getting out is a fear, and a fear just like any other. So the solution to a fear like any other is the solution to the solution like any other.

If that makes any sense.

"I'm going to need a whole lot of happiness..." I realized quietly. Then, the idea struck me. I started searching for Dusk again, but after thirty seconds, said out loud, "Oh, what the heck. This is boring."

I began running down the hill. Though I stumbled a few times on some pesky rocks, I managed to keep my footing. At the bottom, I started to worm through the fighting prisoners and guards. I scanned the area, looking for Dusk.

Eventually, I decided to try the communicator again. I held it close to my mouth, pressed a button, and asked, "Dusk, can you hear me?"

I stopped running abruptly as a sharp, high-pitched noise pierced through my brain. Dropping the communicator, I put both hands on my forehead as it began to throb.

"No, not this again," I groaned. "Dang Shady...you are most definitely _not _legit. I thought I killed you..."

Suddenly, I realized that a bulky, tough looking prisoner was rushing toward me with some sort of club in his hand. I quickly veered to the left, but tripped over a stone and ended up tumbling to the ground.

My head continued to throb, and my heart thumped relentlessly. I squeezed my eyes tightly for a moment, blocking everything out. If the Shady was back to connecting Dusk and I, shouldn't I be able to feel the connection again? Which means it may be possible to locate him.

I grasped on to the throbbing. My mind seemed to go on a wild rollercoaster, racing through images of people and places. I didn't recognize any of them. Each one, however, was tainted with Dusk's feelings and thoughts. Until I came to one last picture: A purple crack. This one I recognized very well.

With a gasp, my eyes fluttered open. It felt like I had just resurfaced from the bottom of an ocean, and that the world should be completely changed. Instead, however, everything was normal. Well, as normal as it gets when you're in the middle of a field surrounded by prisoners and guards.

At least I had an idea of where Dusk was now. He was somewhere on the ground, that was for sure. And somewhere...over...

"There!" I cried. My eyes had finally caught onto his brown hair, which, unfortunately, blended in quite well with the grass.

I started running toward Dusk. It felt like I was flying. My head was still throbbing, and I was beginning to feel a little weak in the knees, but none of that mattered now. I could see Dusk, and everything was going to be okay now.

Probably.

I eventually made it over to Dusk. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was parted ever so slightly. Most of his face was pale, but I knew that if he kept sucking my life source away that the color would come back to his features.

Gently, I shook him awake. He woke with a sharp intake of air, and sat up abruptly. Dusk's eyes were wild, and his hair was even messier than usual, but when he saw me sitting next to him, he calmed down a little.

"Hi," I say with a slight smile.

"How did you find me?" he asks. I saw a faint light in his eyes, and I'm sure mine were turning dark from the Shady that was inside of me.

"That doesn't matter right now," I shook my head, not bothering to explain. "But first of all, you _really _need to stop killing me. I'm not even kidding. This whole Shady thing is getting annoying." I smiled at his expression, which went from confusion to understanding as he realized that he had accidentally feared this was going to happen all over again.

"But we just have to think of something happy, right?" Dusk asked. "It will all go away after that."

"Yeah. But I really think we need loads of happiness. If we could finish the job completely...that would be great, you know?" I explained briskly.

"Friends," He smiled, glancing over at me.

"What?"

"Friends. They make me feel happy." I looked over at him to see that he was smiling.

"Oh," I nod, realizing what he was doing. "Um...oranges. And ferns. Those are my favorite fruits and plants. And I really like eating bagels, too."

"What else..." He trailed off, and then continued, "Oh! Dogs. I really like dogs. And cats."

"I love stars."

"Apples. Those are delicious."

And then we raced each other, finding the things that made us the happiest. Sure, we'd have to dodge a runaway prisoner once in a while, but it was all good.

Suddenly, I noticed that there were traces of...glitter, I guess, around the prisoners, and I realized that Dusk and my race of happiness was working. We started going faster, thinking of better examples. I looked down at myself, realizing that I was sparkling as well. Dusk was, too.

"Reading...and eating. Eating is really fun," I continued.

He laughed at me, and I breathlessly asked, "What?" while dodging and incoming prisoner.

"Ooh, and I love seeing Mom and Dad, too!" I pushed further to come up with more things. "And Amy. And...eventually, Rory."

"I love traveling in the TARDIS," Dusk laughed.

"I love piloting the TARDIS!"

"I like ice cream," Dusk smiled.

It was at that moment that I looked straight into Dusk's shining eyes. They seemed to be a golden color, which was very different from their normal blue.

And then, before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing him. Very, very softly.

Dusk seemed surprised for a moment, but then realized what was happening, and began to kiss back.

The blood pounded in my ears, and I felt like smiling, but that might ruin it. A warm, golden light began to engulf us, and then everyone around us, and then the people beyond them and the land after that. I realized the Shady had left, because my head was no longer throbbing. And, then, I broke away. As soon as it had happened, it was over.

Dusk blinked his eyes for a few moments, and then shut them for good. Once he fell back onto the ground, I realized that he had passed out.

I smiled down at him, and said, "I like ice cream, too."

And then, I, too, decided that taking a nap sounded like a very, very good idea.

• • •

"Don't worry, River...they'll wake up soon enough," a voice murmured.

"Sweetie, I know that. I'm just curious as to what exactly happened."

"Well, me, too," the first voice replied. "But we'll just have to wait until they can wake up to tell us."

It was at this point that, ironically, my eyes fluttered open. After frantically looking around for a few moments, I realized that I was back at Lexie's HQ in the guest room. Dusk was still asleep on the other bed.

"Ah, see, what did I tell you? She's never one to miss out on the fun," he chuckles.

I pulled a pillow from under my head, and whacked the Doctor with it.

"Ouch! What was that for?" He cries.

"I dunno. I whacked you with a pillow. Do I need a reason?" I asked.

"Yes, you do!"

"Oh...well then my reason is because I felt like it," I explain, shrugging.

"It's nice to see you feeling good again, Dawn," River laughed.

"Thank you, River," I replied, nodding my head. "See, Doctor, _that _is the way that you greet a young lady who just woke up from using almost all of her living energy on a bunch of Ancient Organisms of Darkness."

"I don't believe there's such a greeting," Dad replied.

"...touché."

"But, anyway, how exactly _did _that all happen?" Dad asks. "Because I was legitimately-"NO!" I screamed suddenly, interrupting him.

"What?" He asks, his face immediately turning worried.

"You cannotsay _legitimately_. The word is _le-g-it," _I explained.

River began to laugh, and Lexie, who I noticed next to her, couldn't help but smile. My expression, however, was completely serious.

"..._Anyway. _ How did you do it? I was _legitly_-," he paused, waiting for me to interrupt again. I nodded, satisfied at his new use of the word. "-fighting some Shadies when there was this sudden bright light everywhere. Then, all of the fears people had dreamed up were gone. Were you the cause of it?"

"Me and Dusk," I reply. "We both thought of something super duper happy at the same time, and...it made a big light, and BOOM! All the Shadies went bye-bye."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly was this 'super duper happy' thing?"'

"Er...um...we thought of...ice cream! Yeah, that's it...ice cream," I replied. My cheeks grew a little warm under the intense gazes of River, Dad, and Lexie.

Dusk suddenly began stirring on the other bed. After a moment, he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Ah, Dusk, my bow-tie loving companion and idiot!" Dad exclaimed. I suppressed a giggle. "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty," He replied. Lexie handed him a glass of water. He nodded in thanks. "What happened?"

"You and Dawn apparently thought of _ice cream_, which ended up destroying all of the Shadies. There was this big glowing light, and all of the Shadies just kind of...melted," Dad explained briefly. I almost laughed again when he said 'ice cream.' If only he knew what _really _happened.

"I don't remember any of it," Dusk replied, shrugging. "But I guess if we destroyed all of the Shadies that's good, right?"

Dad began replying, but I didn't hear any of it, because that's when what he was saying truly sunk in: He didn't remember _any _of it. Or, at least, none of the "battle." Which means...

I looked over at Dusk, a curious gaze on my face. He stared right back at me. Did he really _not _remember, or did he just not want to say what happened in front of anyone else?

We stayed in that position for a few silent moments. That's when I saw that his hand that had been all scratched up before was glowing. He made it very discreet, but I could see that there were nanogenes flying around it. Then I realized that he was trying to share his thoughts with me.

I saw images of what had happened to him, all the way up to when he had been knocked out by a prisoner or two. And then...he was here.

_What happened? _ He asked.

I paused before replying, _Exactly what the Doctor said. I'm not sure why you don't remember it, though. Probably because we used so much energy that your brain couldn't carry the extra weight...or something like that. _

I didn't have to hear or sense him telepathically to see the lights of confusion and curiosity in his eyes.

_We're even, now, _I laughed. _Only I forgot three months, and you forgot three minutes. _

He smiled, and at that point, the connection broke as the nanogenes flew back into his hand.

"Anyway!" I suddenly exclaimed, and everyone jumped. "I say that we go celebrate with some ice cream! Lexie, do you know of any good places to get some around here?"

She nodded, a wide smile on her face. "Hearth Ice Cream. It's about two blocks away."

"Ooh, I've _always _wanted to go to one of those!" I exclaimed.

"The triple caramel fudge is delicious," River smiled. "It's the Doctor's favorite, too."

"How did you know that?" Dad cries.

"Spoilers," River laughed.

Everyone was happy. We all started walking out the door, following Lexie's lead, when I felt a hand grasp my shoulder. I stopped walking, and after the door shut, I turned around slowly to see Dad. We were in the room alone now.

He narrowed his eyes, and looked at me up, and down, up and down, up and...

"Stop, you're making me get, like, motion sickness, or something," I said.

"What really happened out there?" He asked suddenly, even though I knew the question was coming.

"Exactly what I told you," I replied, even though it was a lie.

"I don't believe you."

"So I assumed."

We scowled at each other for a moment. Then, I finally asked, "Are we really back at where we started? You hating me because I found some insane way to save the day again?"

He relaxed his scowl, and I saw some unrecognizable emotion there. "No," He replied, sighing. "It just bothers me, not knowing who you are, and what you can do. River...I have my guesses about her. But I have no clue about you. At all."

I shrugged. "I'm sure you'll find something out eventually. Probably it will be my fault. I'll let something slip, and then BOOM! You'll know who I am. Just try not to figure it out too fast. I like teasing you about it." I smiled, and Dad shook his head.

"Come on," I giggle, taking his hand, "let's go get some tripe caramel fudge ice cream."

We walked out the door in a silent companionship.

• • •

"And then the Slitheen walks into the bar and says, 'Hey, got any sodium acid?" Lexie finishes the joke, and River, Dusk, and I all laugh. I took a big lick of my ice cream cone.

The change of everyone's attitude had completely changed. Thanks to Dusk and my...er...ice cream, the landscape was back to normal, and everyone was cheerful. All of us were sitting in a little circle in the middle of a large park. We were lucky that the ice cream shop was open, because several shops were closed due to repairs. Other than some people being injured, houses toppling over, and flying motorcycles crashing to the ground, everything was normal. The sky was blue, and mostly everyone was happy.

I looked over at Dad, who was sitting next to me. He was gazing off into the distance. He was smiling about Lexie's joke, but it didn't reach his eyes, which seemed gloomy and gray.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked him quietly, so that no one else would hear.

"Amy," He replied, sighing. "I still don't know where she is...and my TARDIS, for that matter."

"I wonder..." I trailed off, but took the Doctor's large hand in my small one. Then, I told him, "Think of something really, really happy."

"You don't think...?"

"I do think!" I smiled. Then, I closed my eyes, and started to think about Amy coming back with the TARDIS, and how happy Dad would be. And, of course, him being happy made me happy.

_Fa-whoosh, Fa-whoosh, Fa-whoosh! _

I opened my eyes, and smiled up at the Doctor. We both knew the sounds of a TARDIS.

"You're brilliant," He laughed, turning around to see the TARDIS materializing right behind us. He continued to mumble, "This whole time, I simply feared that the TARDIS would take off with Amy inside of it...there must have been a Shady inside of it."

By now, Lexie, River, and Dusk had all looked up at the TARDIS, which had fully materialized.

Suddenly, a familiar ginger girl poked her head out the door. "Doctor!" Amy cried, fully opening the door to hug him. "Ugh, I was so worried, and, then—is that River?" She asked, looking over the Doctor's shoulder.

River smiled, and said, "Hello, Amy. Good to see you again."

"I know you two, also, don't I?" Amy asks, and breaks away from the Doctor to inspect Dusk and I.

"Wait a second!" She cries. "Aren't you supposed to be...dead? I mean, no offense, but..."

"Ugh, you sound like him," I groan, pointing an accusing finger at Dad.

"And your hair, it's...red?" Amy asks. "Ooh, you're a ginger! Good work!" She smirks, and then whispers in my ear, "It really attracts the men." I snorted, shaking my head.

"Amy, you go back inside, I'll explain later," Dad chuckles, pushing a still-confused Amy into the TARDIS. She protested, but Dad was stronger that her, and was able to keep her inside after leaning against the door.

"Well, I guess it's time I say farewell," Dad sighs. "It was nice beating down all those Shadies with you guys. Very legit."

I smile, and the Doctor leans against the TARDIS in that cool way he has. "River, nice seeing you again."

River laughs, and replies, "It won't be too long, Doctor. As I said before, you'll see me again when the Pandorica opens."

Dad smirks, and then turns to me. "What do you plan on doing, Dawn?"

"More traveling," I reply, shrugging. "I'll use a phone booth to call up a spaceship or something." I smirked. The Doctor knew that I had no intention of telling him how I planned to get off of this planet.

"Then I'm sure we'll see each other soon," Dad smiles. "I look forward to it." We shook hands.

"Well then. I should probably go talk to Amy-," at this moment, there was thump against the TARDIS door. I knew that it was Amy trying to get out, and smiled. Dad continued, "or else she'll be driving me nuts for the rest of our time together."

Dad slowly opened the door after one final wave, and walked inside. I could barely hear Amy over the noise of the TARDIS going _Fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh, fa-whoosh. _And then, it was gone.

Lexie stood up, stretched, and said, "I should probably get out of here. I have to find Ty before he moves someplace else again."

I hugged her tightly. "Good luck, Lexie. If I hear anything from him, I'll tell you. I'm sure we'll see each other again someday soon."

We broke apart, and, like the Doctor, after waving one last time, she walked toward the sun, which was now setting because it was late afternoon. I watched her go, slightly sad.

I turned to River, Dusk by my side, and shrugged. "I guess this is goodbye, then?"

"For now," River nodded. "Because as long as you're traveling around in a TARDIS, I'm sure we'll meet again."

I was stupefied. "H-How did you know...?"

River laughed, and pointed at where my TARDIS was parked. I had accidentally landed it right next to another red phone booth.

"No one builds two phone booths right next to each other on this planet. I anticipate our next time meeting each other with great happiness, Dawn. If you ever need me, you know which prison to call." And then, a sudden cloud of dust swirled up around her, and River was gone. I looked up to see a prison ship, just before it disappeared again.

Dusk and I stood there for a few seconds in a complete and utter silence, until he finally said, "Dawn. Your mom is legit."

I looked over at him, and smiled. "I _know!_"

I then began to quietly sing the song, "Stacey's mom," and Dusk joined in, until we were so loud, that everyone in the park could have heard us. We walked to the TARDIS together, acting like complete and total idiots.

Oh, the day in the life of a Forgotten Child.

**Okay. I'm so dang sorry. **

**I don't even know how to explain why I was gone for so long. I finished this chapter a Looooooong time ago, but I didn't have time to edit it. So that was pretty rubbish. Musical was going on, I had to write a huge biography about my mom for an ELA class, I had a total of sixteen band/choir concerts during this absence, extra homework, lessons, blah blah blah. Anyway, I also had a HUGE confidence drop in writing (don't ask...), and that made me not write anything creative for about two weeks. And then I went through a huge stage of writer's block. And you don't want to hear about the rest. **

**Please, if you've ever been through one of those stages where you CAN'T write, you can understand, right? **

**Anyway...hope you like the conclusion of this chapter. I had to make Dawn and Dusk kiss, I'm sorry. Ha ha, now Dusk knows that they kissed, but Dawn doesn't know about it, and Dawn knows that they kissed this time, and Dusk doesn't. So they both think that the other person thinks that they haven't kissed, but really they both know that they have. **

**If...that makes any sense, you're legit. :P**

**Anyway...please review! Again, I'm super duper sorry! **


	37. Chapter 36:  Crash Landing

**Hey everybody!**

**Sorry that it's been a while. But at least it hasn't been three months like last time, right? Sorry about that...again. **

**But I had some major writer's block for this last part of the book, and I couldn't think of anything awesome enough for a while. :/ I finally think I found something worth uploading though, so I hope you enjoy this last part of the story. And then...THE SEQUEL!**

**I can tell you this right now: The sequel is going to be INTENSE. I wish I could tell you some stuff about it, but I'm scared I'll give important bits away. **

**How about we just stick with the present, and you read this chapter, instead? ;)**

**So, without further ado...the season finale of THE FORGOTTEN CHILD! :)**

**ENJOY!**

**Crash Landing**

**Dawn's POV-**

I sat in the TARDIS console room, feet propped up on Sweetie's main computer frame, humming a Volterian melody, one of Mum's diary in one hand, an apple in the other, and a stack of more books at my side. Slightly frustrated, I flipped through the pages, scrutinizing each one with a very intense gaze, looking for the slightest hint of where I was supposed to go next. Before turning to the next page, I took a bite of my almost-finished apple, making loud chewing noises.

Suddenly, a door from the hallway shut. I jumped upon hearing the noise, only to realize that it was Dusk coming out of his bedroom.

He saw me, smiled a little confusedly, and asked, "Uh, Dawn...why are you up so early?"

I stared back at him, just as puzzled, and asked, "What time is it?"

"Five in the morning, TARDIS time."

"Oh, dang...I thought it was still eleven at night, TARDIS time," I explained, and pouted slightly, finally realizing why I was so exhausted. My watch must have run out of battery or something.

"Wait...so you've been up the whole night?" Dusk asked. I could see him visibly containing a laugh.

"Yeah. That explains why I'm so tired." Of course, I yawned right after saying this.

"You should have gone to bed when I told you to." Dusk shook his head. "I don't think you're supposed to stay up all night after having your life source almost completely sucked away twice in the same day."

As soon as we had gotten back to the TARDIS yesterday, I flew us to a safe spot in space, and got a stack of books I thought might help me to figure out where I was supposed to go next in our adventure. Dusk had asked me why I was so troubled about it. The answer I had was one that I didn't want to tell him, so I had simply replied, "I don't know."

But the real reason is that Dad always knows where to go. And if he doesn't, the TARDIS leads him there. I, on the other hand, have no clue where to go, whom to save, what to do. I feel like I should be doing something _more. _

He was probably right about the whole you-should've-gone-to-bed thing, but I didn't really want to admit it. I smiled a little embarrassedly before replying, "I'm a Time Lady. I don't need as much sleep as you do."

"You're half human. You probably need more sleep than _I_ do."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Nope!"

"Yup!"

"Ugh...you're impossible!" I rolled my eyes playfully, sinking deeper into my comfy purple chair.

"Seriously, Dawn. I really think you should get some sleep," Dusk yanked me by my arm off of my chair, and started pulling me toward my bedroom.

I resisted, pulling away, only to hear Sweetie chime in telepathically, _I agree, Dawn. You look like you could use some rest. _

"Oh, you're not a part of this conversation," I pouted, swatting my hand at the air. I heard her laugh quietly in my head.

"See? Even the TARDIS agrees with me!" Dusk laughed, and I finally gave in.

"Fine. But promise you'll wake me up by seven?"

"That's only two hours. How about eight?"

I was about to reply, but was cut off by a yawn that somehow pushed its way out of my mouth.

"That's what I thought," Dusk laughed, and opened the door to my bedroom.

I immediately flopped onto my comfy bed, and said, "Okay...you can go now, Mr. I-make-thirteen-year-old-aliens-sleep-even-when-they-aren't-tired. Maybe I'll shun you when I wake up, just for revenge."

Dusk's laughter was the last thing I heard before falling into a deep, comfortable sleep.

• • •

As I slept, I dreamt, as well.

Many images flew through my brain. Some involved really random things like potatoes with wings, but most were very serious. Things like the purple crack kept showing up, which scared me very much. There were thousands of people murmuring in the background, but I couldn't pinpoint what they were saying. One voice, however, stood out above the rest:

_With healing comes destruction, and with war comes peace. One day, during war, The Red Snake will be swallowed by a crack, and peace will come. But before peace comes war, with war comes destruction, and before destruction is healing from previous wars. Life like this is a cycle, you should know that._

I couldn't remember where the voice was coming from or what it meant, but it seemed very familiar.

_I try to listen to where the Red Snake goes when swallowed, but all I hear are angels crying._

The words were something important, that I knew. And I had heard them before.

The cacophony of noise suddenly stopped, and I heard a long, low rumble, which suddenly turned into a roar that I would compare to a lion. My forehead burned, and it felt like the darkness of my dream was closing in on me. I couldn't breathe.

Abruptly, I sat up, breathing hard. My eyes shot straight open, and I blinked several times, trying to adjust to the bright light of my room.

It took a few moments to calm myself down. Gasping for air, I whispered to myself, "It was just a dream...it was just a dream. You're fine, you're fine..."

I looked around, taking a few more deep breaths, and, then, finally, my gaze turned to the little alarm clock on my bedstead. It read 10:35.

"I'm going to kill him," I grumbled, rolling my eyes in the process. Groggily, I slid out of bed, making a small attempt to fix my bedraggled hair. It didn't seem to help, however, and I decided to kill Dusk _after _I had taken a shower and changed clothes.

• • •

I walked into the TARDIS console room about an hour later, still drying my fiery hair with a lavender towel.

"You're an idiot," I growled over at Dusk, who was playing with a Rubik's cube in _my _purple chair. "You didn't wake me up when you said you would."

"Really?" Dusk asked, looking surprise. He then looked down at his watch, and said, "My watch must have run out of battery, too." Then, he looked back up at me and smirked.

I rolled my eyes playfully, and started messing around with some TARDIS levers and buttons.

"Are you okay?" Dusk suddenly asked, tossing a worried glance in my direction as I hopped around the TARDIS.

"Yeah, I guess. I had a bad dream while I was sleeping," I explained, shrugging my shoulders. "It's nothing, though."

"Are you sure?"

I wasn't going to tell him anything about the prophecy. In the shower, I had finally remembered where the words had come from. Nitero had said them to me when I hypnotized Dusk all those months ago. She said that a part of me would die, and I didn't want Dusk to get all worked up about it. Besides, having another dream about the prophecy just means that my self-conscious was thinking about it. It didn't mean that it was going to happen anytime soon.

"Dawn!" Dusk's voice snapped me back into reality.

"Hm?" I looked up from the controls, and smiled a little sheepishly. "Oh, uh, sorry. I got lost in thought. Don't worry, I'm fine."

We then continued to talk about the art of solving a Rubik's cube while I decided where we were going to go. One question, however, didn't seem to leave my mind:

Which part of me was going to die?

The human part, or the Time Lady part?

It was at this point that Sweetie suddenly lurched, and I felt us moving around. I grabbed onto one of the levers on the console so that I could hold onto something safely, and Dusk ended up falling off of the purple chair.

The TARDIS roared, each button flashing, every lever jerking. Sparks flew up from random places, and noises filled the air. Above all else, I heard the cloister bell, ringing loud and clear.

I had only heard the cloister bell ring once. And that was a very, very long time ago, just after my mother left me here.

Something really, really bad was happening.

"Sweetie!" I yelled to her out loud, looking up at the ceiling of the TARDIS. "Sweetie, what's going on? Can you hear me?"

For once, Sweetie did not reply. I couldn't feel her presence anymore, either. I knew that we were crashing to the ground at insane speeds, and I had no idea where we were going to land.

I stumbled over to where Dusk was lying on the ground. I realized that he must have hit his head on the floor and become unconscious.

"Ugh," I groaned. "You choose _now, _of all times, to black out on me? Gee, thanks..."

I started dragging him closer to the purple chair. Then, I curled him up into a little ball, and put the cushion on top of him, just in case any debris started flying around.

It was very difficult to stumble around the console room when the TARDIS was jerking so much. My thoughts flew around everywhere in my head, looking in the little crevices of my brain for what Mum's old books said about crash landing.

"Oh, that's right," I whispered, finally finding an answer.

I struggled over to the left side of the console, and started pulling two levers up and down simultaneously. Then, after I heard the correct sort of clonking noise that came from the console computer, I staggered over a couple of steps to my right, keeping a firm hold on the edge of Sweetie's console. After pressing a few odd buttons, the flashing lights calmed down a little, and I knew that I had succeeded in at least slowing us down a little before we reached whatever planet we were landing in.

But then, something very strange happened. It started to rain.

Well, kind of. I looked up, and realized that there were sprinklers in the roof that had started up.

"I didn't even know I _had _those things in here," I murmured, shaking my head up at the ceiling. "Oh well. That's kind of...cool, actually."

That's when I noticed the fire that was burning on the opposite side of the console, right by Dusk. I realized that's what must have triggered the sprinklers.

It was slowly dying away, and I sighed with relief.

Now, all I have to do is wait for us to crash on some random planet.

Oh, what joy.

Suddenly, the TARDIS jolted again, and I fell to the ground. I realized that not only had the TARDIS jolted, but it had hit something, as well. A few seconds later we bounced off of something else, and then another. _Thump, bump, thumpity-bump. _Sweetie seemed to calm, and everything stopped flashing. Even cloister bell stopped ringing. I realized that we had actually landed upright, and everything seemed alright.

It was at that point that I noticed the purple beanbag shuffling around, and realized that Dusk had finally woken up. I removed it from on top of him, and pushed the chair aside.

"What happened?" He asked, rubbing his forehead slightly.

"Um, we crash landed on a random planet," I laughed slightly. It was one of those nervous laughs that you get after a slightly life-threatening experience. "Oh, and the sprinklers also went off," I explained, gesturing to my soaked hair and clothes. They were done spraying me now, but everything was still very wet.

Dusk got up, steadying himself by using the console.

"You okay?" I ask. "You took a pretty rough fall."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dusk replied. Despite him saying that, I ran my head over the red spot on his forehead, waiting for any reaction or wince by touching a tender spot. It didn't happen.

Dusk removed my fingers with his left hand, and put his right hand on the red spot. I saw nanogenes fly out of his fingertips, and they seemed to make it appear better.

"I forgot about that," I giggled. "It's convenient."

"How about you?" He asked as I raced over to the monitor. "Are you okay?"

"Absolutely fine," I smiled right back at him, and then my gaze turned to the monitor. We seemed to be in a forest, and it looked calm enough.

After a few more moments of analyzing the green trees, old paths, and the oddly shaped fruits on the trees I realized where we were.

"Cicuentre," I murmured.

"What?" Dusk asked.

"We're on the planet Cicuentre," I explained, staring at the monitor. "I never really read much about this place. I only know because of the fruits."

By now, Dusk was at my side, and I pointed out the strangely shaped orange fruits that hung off of the tall, green trees.

He nodded, and I continued, "I last read about this place right before my thirteenth birthday. I was working on reading the whole planet's history, but then I figured out how to start the TARDIS, and, well...you know what happened after that."

Dusk was already walking toward the door before I finished.

"Wait, don't go out yet!" I exclaimed, racing down the steps to block the door. "I have _no _idea what's out there. Something possessed Sweetie to come to this planet. That's why she's gone, and that's why the cloister bell went off. We have _no _idea what could be going on out there."

We stared at each other for a few seconds, and then I muttered, "Dang. Now I really want to go see what's out there."

He pushed me away, opened the door, and laughed, "After you, milady."

I smiled, walking out into the fresh air. Dusk followed, and I began blabbing again as we moved further away from the TARDIS.

"See, I read about the main characteristics of the planet. There are many caves here, and the planet is split into two countries. It's set in medieval times, kind of like when we went to Muforam."

He gives me a confused look, and I explain, "Muforam...you know, with Marth, and Emily, and all that stuff with the Master? It was our second adventure together."

"Oh, yeah," he nods. "I remember now." A slightly sad look touched his eyes, and I realized that I probably shouldn't have brought up Emily.

"Sorry," I murmur.

"It's fine," Dusk shrugs. "She's probably in a better place now."

I nod, not really knowing what else to say. Then, I heard a rustle from the bushes behind us, and I quickly turned around. Dusk turned as well, ready for whatever was there.

One creature came out from the bushes, then another, and another. They were had lizard-like structures, but were more muscular and stood on two legs. Each one was bearing its teeth and glaring at both of us.

"That's another thing I forgot to mention," I laughed nervously.

"What?"

"There are aliens on this planet. Really, really mean aliens."

**Uh oh...the prophecy is back. Which obviously means something bad is going to happen. Any predictions? ;)**

**Anyway, I'm super excited to write the next chapter. Plus, I get out of school in THREE AND A HALF days, so after that, I don't have much to do in the summer. :) **

**Sorry this chapter was kind of short. It's kind of like an introduction. **

**I went back and read some of the really old chapters of this story...ew. I hope I've matured more/gotten better since then. I felt embarrassed. I'm going to have to go back and fix those chapters. ;)**

**And now, I have to go study for some tests...woo hoo...have a nice rest of the day. :)**

**REVIEW AND PREDICT! :)**


	38. Chapter 37:  The Legend of the Key

**Hey everybody!**

**It's my birthday today. :) Yay! And I thought since I was given so many presents today, I'd spread the joy and give you guys a gift by updating! It's also only been a little more than a week since my last update! WOO HOO! See, I'm getting back on track! :)**

**Also, it's been a little more than a year (one year and six days, to be exact) since I started this story. I have 162 reviews (currently), and I am so grateful for all of you guys reviewing and reading. Thank you so much. Really, having this story be successful is probably the best birthday gift I could have asked for. :) **

**Anyway! On with the story! I gave you an introduction last time, so this kind of gets the story started a little more. I'm building for something pretty epic. I hope that by the end you'll all be on your toes. ;)**

**Sorry about the long author note. **

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 37: The Legend of the Key**

**Dawn's POV-**

The lizard aliens growled menacingly at Dusk and me. I started weighing the options in my head. We could run, hide, and scream.

Or maybe even do all three.

I braced myself for another alien to come out when I heard more rustling. Instead, the rustling turned out to be a short-ish girl with shiny, light brown hair that came down to a little below her shoulders and was slightly curly. She was wearing a white dress with blue ribbon sewed on certain seams and edges, and she looked about two years younger than me. My eyes scanned her whole body in a matter of seconds, and then I reached her left hand, in which she was holding an old-looking yet beautiful sword. Its hilt was golden, and a red ribbon was tied around it. At first glance, it looked like the girl wouldn't hurt a fly, but after looking into her eyes, I saw a determined, strong sparkle dancing around in them.

The girl flashed one brief glance at Dusk and I before making a smart cut to her left, knocking two of the five lizard aliens over. Then, she dodged an attack from one lizard as it went for her sword-arm, and ended up cutting its stomach open.

After a few more brisk, skillful swings, she killed each alien. I watched in amazement as the aliens began glowing, each a different color, and then disappeared altogether, leaving only a few drops of blood behind.

I tucked a piece of hair back behind my ear, and, then, asked in amazement, "How did you _do _that?"

The girl shrugged, and then replied, "I dunno. Dad says I've been a good sword fighter since I was real little." She paused before adding with a defensive tone, "Don't think I haven't had to work on it, though. It's tough work, getting this good. Not to brag or anything."

I smiled. I liked this kid. She was confident. Confidence is a good thing.

Except when you're playing chess. Because you think you're doing fine and you're going to win when WHAM! The robot you're playing against does some legit move that you never even thought of and you're dead.

The girl's voice snapped me out of the little debate about confidence that was going on in my head. "So, are you new here?" She asks, sticking the sword back in the hilt that was tied around her waist. "You don't see many people wandering around the forest without a sword. At least, not these days." She paused again before adding, "And you definitely don't see girls soaked to the skin wearing those types of clothes." The girl giggled at my still-soaked hair and skin.

"Yeah, we're...um...new," I replied.

Dusk intervened, and said, "We're from the outlands."

I glanced over at Dusk, desperately wanting to ask how he knew about the outlands on this planet, but I didn't say anything. Instead, I looked back at the girl. She nodded.

"Makes sense. So many outlanders are coming in for war these days. You look a little young, though..." The girl raised one eyebrow suspiciously.

Again, Dusk decided to take charge, and explained, "My uncle is going to war. His children have all moved out, so he needs someone to take care of the shop. We became lost on the way to town, though, and ran into those monsters."

The girl nodded. "That makes sense, too. Tell you what: since you're so lost, I'll give you a free little tour on the way to town. Consider it a welcoming gift. I'm Erin, by the way. What are your names?"

"I'm Dawn, he's Dusk," I replied.

Erin stuck out a small hand for both of us to shake.

Dusk and I stayed a few steps behind Erin as she pointed out important landmarks throughout the forest. The aliens must have known to stay away from us because she had a sword.

Throughout the whole walk, my thoughts were occupied by Dusk. How had he known about the outlanders that lived in this region? And what about the whole uncle's shop story?

I didn't hear much of Erin's tour because I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, so it was slightly surprising when her voice snapped me out of my trance by saying, "Well, here's our town! Welcome to Emmerland!"

In front of us stood rows and rows of houses, shops, and other various stands. We were standing on a cobblestone road that lead straight into the heart of Emmerland, and had smaller roads branching off of it. People with wagons, horses, and bags of goods were on the roads, traveling with friends or by themselves. Soldiers stood outside some of the fancy mansions and shops, and many also lined the busy streets and the outskirts of town. Music was playing throughout the town. I realized that it was coming from street bands and people who just needed money.

"It's a festival today," Erin explained. "It's usually this busy anyway, but you'll notice there's a lot more music than usual, and that we have decorations and flags all over the place."

"What's the reason for the festival?" I asked.

"You really are outcasts," Erin laughed. "Anyway, the reason for the festival is that we won the first battle of the war!"

I wasn't too surprised. If there's a will, there's a war.

Wait...that's the wrong quote.

But anyway. I assumed that the war was between the two countries that this planet was split into. What the war was _over, _however, was another question.

Erin looked up. I followed her gaze to see a clock hanging on the outside wall of one of the buildings. It looked like the clock had been taken from Big Ben himself.

"I have to get home and help my mother with lunch," Erin said, frowning. "My father owns the inn, so my mother always needs help cooking for everyone."

"You think I could rent a room there?" I ask, looking over at Erin. "How much does it cost?"

"Only five pieces of silver a day," Erin told me, smiling. "We're the cheapest and best quality inn around."

"I'm sure of it," I nodded. "Think you could lead me there?"

"Sure, follow me."

I started to follow Erin, and then remembered Dusk.

"I'll see you later," I told him over my shoulder. Then, I mouthed, "Explore a little," and tossed him my sonic screwdriver. I smiled at his stupefied expression.

Erin started leading me through the many rows of businesses, until we reached the inn. It wasn't as big as the ones on Earth, but it was big enough for many people to stay there. The whole thing was wooden, like many other shops in town. The shutters on the windows were maroon, and so was the door. A big, wooden sign was placed on the first floor awning, which read "Cherry Inn."

As Erin opened the door to the inside, I asked, "Is there a reason for having it named Cherry Inn?"

Erin shrugged, and replied, "It was my Grandfather's favorite fruit. He's dead now, so we wanted to keep his memory alive."

"I'm sorry," I said softly, wanting to reach out and touch her shoulder, but I didn't know her that well, so it would have been awkward.

"It's fine," She replied, shrugging. "It happened a while ago."

I heard a voice call out from the other side of the room, "Erin, come help me with lunch!"

"Just a moment, Mother! I have to take care of this customer first!" She led me over to the counter, which had a notebook and quill on it.

"So, how many days are you planning to stay, Dawn?" Erin asked, picking up the quill.

"Um, probably three," I replied. "Maybe more, maybe less. I have a few things I need to do around town, and I have no idea how long it will take."

"Alright, sounds good," Erin mumbled, nodding as she wrote down my name and the amount of days I was staying. "And you'll have to pay us for each night that you stay, you know that, right?"

I chuckled, and nodded. "Of course."

"Great! Your room is number fifty-three," Erin explained. "Well, I have to go and help Mom with lunch. Good luck with your errands."

She started to walk off, but then turned back and said softly, "There's an extra dress in the cabinet in your room. I think you might want it." She nodded at my soaked clothing and shorts.

"Thanks," I giggled.

I started walking upstairs, and then followed each door with a number on it until I reached fifty-three. First of all, I had to change clothes and dry off a little. Then, I was going to need a sword. After that, I had to find Dusk, or run into trouble. It depended on which one happened first.

My hand lingered on the doorknob for a moment. Maybe I didn't want to run into trouble. Nitero told me that a part of me was going to die. And it could happen at any second.

I shook my head to myself. It doesn't matter, anyway. I was a mistake. You don't have a kid that's half human and half Gallifreyan.

Gritting my teeth, I opened my door, and trudged into my new, clean room.

• • •

**Dusk's POV-**

I glared a little at the back of Dawn's head and clutched the sonic screwdriver tightly as she walked away with Erin.

I legit hate it when she just leaves me alone like that.

Oh, dang. I used the word legit. See what this girl does to me?

I glared at the ground a little, and then decided it was no use just standing here being angry. She wants me to explore, so, heck, I'm going to explore.

Despite the streets being busy with civilians, it was pretty easy to find a way through all of them. I looked around at the various stands that sold a variety of goods that ranged from lemonade to shoes.

I wandered the streets for a while before I came up to a small shop with slightly dirty windows. Inside were rows upon rows of books, and I concluded that it was a library.

"Might as well brush up on some history," I murmured, and walked inside.

A little bell above the door jingled loudly. The store smelled like an old, musty attic, and everything seemed to be blanketed in dust. An elderly, wrinkly man sitting behind a counter looked up at me briefly, and, then, returned to reading the old book he held in his hand.

I cocked my head a little, wondering if I had done something wrong, when he grumbled, "Don't just stand there. Read somethin', ya whippersnapper."

Containing a laugh at the use of the outdated word, I started aimlessly walking through the shelves of books, until a red book with golden letters on the binding caught my eye. I pulled it off of the shelf. Like many other books in the library, it was covered in dust. I blew on it slightly, and almost sneezed at the small dirt particles that floated around in the air.

Nearby was a wooden table and chair, so I decided to sit down and read for a while. I placed the book down on the tabletop, and read the title.

_The Legend of The Key_

_and other stories_

_Written by Ben Scott_

It sounded interesting enough, so I opened up the cover to reveal yellowed pages with faded print, and began reading the first passage.

The Key is known by many. It is not just an ordinary house key, though. It is said to lead to happiness desired by all.

Legend tells that The Key was created by a young wizard, who wanted a key that would open the door to his father's locked study because there were so many valuable secrets and items in the room. The echantment on the key, however, went wrong, as the young wizard had no help from his wise father. Instead of creating a key for the study, he created a key that opened everything and anything, even one's heart, mind, and soul. The wizard decided that this was much better, and went around unlocking doors and people, learning their secrets and stealing their treasures.

Eventually, the wizard decided that he was missing something. He had everything he could have ever wanted, but still needed more. The wizard began falling in love with a beautiful mortal girl. After spending many days at her side, he realized that he was missing love. The wizard tried to convince the young woman to marry him by telling her of all the things he could give her. But the woman was not interested. She said that she would only marry him if he gave back everything that was not his.

The wizard decided that it was better to have love than other items and secrets that did not matter, and he gave back all of the physical and mental things he stole. The wizard and woman were married soon after, and the people of the village forgave the wizard for his acts, including the wizard's father.

It is said that the wizard put another spell on the key so that only a person with the purest intentions could use it. It is also rumored that the key

"You readin' dat book about The Key?"

I jumped, and looked up at the old man, who was now sitting in front of me in the other chair.

I nodded slowly.

"Darn key is the whole reason for this darn war," the man growled, shaking his head.

"But isn't it just a legend?" I asked, surprised. "It's can't be true. Magic doesn't exist."

The old man chuckled, and rasped, "Of course magic is real. The monsters posses it, the wizards posses it, strangers posses it. Everybody's got at least a little bit."

Oh yeah, I'm on a different planet. Of course there could be magic.

"But the legend said that the key can steal people's secrets and stuff."

"Of course it can."

"How?"

"It's magic. That's reason enough."

I took a moment to think about this. Then, I asked, "So why is the Key the reason for the war?"

"Dem two Kings are greedy," the man rasped. "They want happiness real bad. But they ain't understandin' that fighting for a key that supposedly leads to all happiness ain't the way to have it. Ain't one person that understands the legend at all. The key is only a gift for a few people. For most, it's a curse. But the Kings are fine and dandy. They don't mind a little bloodshed...as long as they have the Key."

"So who has it as of now?"

"Didn't you finish readin' the passage, boy? Says the wizard hid the key in Rojo Serpiente cave. Most call it Serpiente cave for short. Wizard called on his dragon to guard the Key until it meets the one who kills it. Ones who have gone lookin' for the key either haven't found it, or haven't come back," the old man explained.

I was slightly mystified. "So you're saying that people are fighting a war over a key that hasn't even been found yet?"

The old man shook his head yes. "Silly, ain't it?"

I nodded. "Why doesn't anyone stand up and explain all of this to people?"

"Some have tried...but it didn't do nothin'. Others are too afraid to go against the crowd. Lots o' people are willin' to listen to absolute lies, 'long as they think they'll end up happy."

I looked down at the red book that lay in front of me, thinking about all that I had learned.

I should probably tell all of this to Dawn...but she might want to see the book, too.

"Do you mind if I borrow this?" I ask the old man, holding up the book.

The old man laughed dryly, and replied, "Boy, this is a library. O' course you can borrow it. 'Fact, you can have it."

"Really? Thanks...?" I trailed off a little, realizing I didn't know the man's name.

"Call me Pete," He said, smiling.

"Thanks Pete! I've got to go. I have a friend that I need to show this to."

I was almost out of the library when I heard Pete say, "You be careful now, Jason. An' when the time comes, make the right choice. Follow your heart, it knows what to do."

I turned around slowly and looked at Pete closely.

"How do you know my name?" I asked. "And what do you mean by that?"

"I know everyone's name," Pete chuckled. "And you'll see. You'll see."

• • •

**Pete was really fun to write. I like old people. Ahem...I mean "experienced" people. ;)**

**Anyway. Hope you enjoyed that chapter. Next chapter things will pick up a little. INTENSITY. It's like a mountain. :D **

**So...yeah. Review, please! :)**


	39. Chapter 38: Pearl Seawhiches & Crab Soup

**Okay, I'm really, really sorry. **

**I've been involved in this little writing workshop/camp thing for the past two weeks, so I haven't been able to write for two reasons. One: I haven't had time. Two: When you've been writing stuff that you don't want to write ALL DAY, you don't want to write when you get home, either.**

**So. The workshop is done Friday (thank goodness), but then I have another camp to go to. It will be a TON more fun, but it's a spend the night, and I'll be gone for a whole week. **

**SO! I'm going to try super duper hard to update one more time before Sunday so that I can make it up to you guys. :)**

**Anyway, hope you like this chapter. ENJOY!**

**Of Pearl Seawhiches and Crab Soup**

**Dawn's POV-**

"So, what do you think?"

I ran my hand over the smooth, shiny metal. It was beautiful, that was for sure. The handle was made of some golden material, and there was a protective little shield bubble thing to stick your hand under. I picked the sword up, and took a few test swings with it toward the targets that were leaning against the walls.

I was at the blacksmith's, trying to find myself a sword. I had a feeling that this adventure was going to involve going out into the caves, and, for that, I would need a sword.

I stared at the sword for a few moments, and then said, "No," and put the sword the blacksmith had offered back down on the counter. "I don't like it."

The blacksmith looked at me with wide, quizzical eyes. "You don't like it?"

"No," I repeated, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "It's heavy, and clumsy. Sure, it's beautiful, and the blade is sharp, but that doesn't always make for a good sword."

The blacksmith opened his mouth to speak again, but I cut him off, saying, "Sir, please don't try to trick me. I know my swords. I'd like to see something lightweight. I don't care how old or rusty it is." I felt kind of bad for telling the old guy off, but he was really bothering me.

I heard a voice from the corner say, "Come on, Pops. Play nice. Show the girl what she wants." I looked in that direction to see a young, well-built (by the way, well-built is a synonym for hot in my dictionary) guy working on some horseshoes by the fire. He was probably a few years older than me, and his hair was very light brown, but not quite blond.

The blacksmith glared over at the boy, who I assumed was his son, and then turned back to me. "Fine. Come this way." He led me over to a different selection of swords. They were all hanging on the wall.

"If you're so handy with swords, pick your own," the man growled. I winced slightly at his tone of voice, feeling bad again. Then, I turned my attention to the wall.

The sword in the very middle stood out the most. It was almost as pretty as the one that I had looked at before, but I knew that beauty wasn't really what I was looking for.

After scrutinizing the wall a little more, a glint of light in the corner caught my eye. I looked over to see a sword with a silver hilt, which was very unusual on this planet. The golden material that was used for sword hilts was very common here, so silver was a rare thing to come across. But that was what told me that this sword was the one I wanted.

"That one," I said, pointing in the direction of the sword, "with the silver hilt."

The boy in the corner whistled. "This girl really knows her stuff, Pops."

I liked this guy. Not only was he really well-built, but he was cool. Almost as cool as berets.

The blacksmith took his little footstool over to that section of the wall, carefully grabbed the sword off of the wall, and handed it to me. I held the sword gently, and then gave it a few swings. A strange feeling that I only get when sword fighting overwhelmed me. It was kind of like when Harry tried his first wand in Harry Potter.

...maybe I'll try using a wand someday. That would be kind of cool.

Snapping out of my thoughts and turning back to the man, I nodded. "Definitely this one."

"That will be twenty silver pieces," the man said, holding out his hand for my money.

I did a little bit of math in my head. If a chicken costs ten bronze pieces, then it makes sense for one night at a hotel to cost five silver pieces. Because the sword was twenty silver pieces, it was four times the price to stay at a hotel.

Which is too much. Well, for this planet, anyway.

"Fifteen silver pieces, or I'll go buy a sword elsewhere," I replied, shrugging. "You can't fool me. I do have a brain."

"Fine," the blacksmith growled. "Fifteen it is."

"Great! Nice doing business with you, sir!"

That was a lie, but I pulled fifteen silver pieces out of my cloak pocket (I had borrowed the cloak from Erin) anyway. I handed it to the man, took my sword and hilt, and walked briskly out of the shop.

Once outside, I strapped the hilt around my waist like a belt, and then hid the sword under my cloak. The streets were still busy, and I guessed that it was about two o'clock. After changing into a lovely green dress at the hotel so that I didn't look like a complete and total freak for having twenty-first century clothes, I had roamed the streets for a while until I came to the blacksmith's shop. Then I had to barter with that silly old man for about an hour. He kept showing me the wrong swords.

"Hm...what next?" I wondered aloud, pulling my "to do" list out of the deep crevices in my brain.

"Oh, right. Run into trouble, or find Dusk. Whichever happens first," I smiled cheerfully, and started walking down the street again, wondering where Dusk could have wandered off to. There are lots of places you could go in this town, especially on a festival day.

So, the question is, if I were a boy named Dusk who was armed with a sonic screwdriver and had amazing blue eyes and messy brown hair, where would I—

_Tap, tap, tap._

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on glass. After a few seconds, I realized it was coming from behind me. Slowly, I turned around.

And there he was. Dusk, staring out the window of a restaurant, smiling hugely at me. He was sitting at one of the high tables that were near the window, holding something that looked a little like a sandwich in his left hand. He gestured with his free hand for me to come inside.

I shook my head, giggling slightly, and walked inside of the restaurant. It smelled really good, and many people were laughing, chatting, and, of course, eating at their seat, along with their family and friends.

After scooting onto the chair across from Dusk, I laughed, and said, "Of all the places for you to be, you're at a restaurant eating!" I rolled my eyes playfully. "Then again, I should have known. You are a fourteen-year-old boy, after all. Isn't food the only thing you ever think about?"

"Hey, be quiet!" Dusk exclaimed, pretending to be mad at me. He couldn't keep the act up much longer though, and his whole face broke out into a happy expression. "I'm really glad you're here, though. First of all, this-," he pointed at the sandwich type thing he was holding, "is disgusting. I need you to figure out what else I should eat. And also, I have no cash, so I need help paying for this."

"Gee, thanks for making me feel so special, Dusk."

It was meant to come out playful, but apparently Dusk thought I was being serious, because he said, "Well, no, I mean, you're much more than that, it's just...um...well-,"

"Calm down," I giggled. "I was joking. Now, let me see that menu, and I'll get you something else to order."

He handed me said menu, and I browsed it a little before deciding, "You want to get the crab soup. It ought to be good, they have a nice variety of seafood stuff on this planet."

"Okay, I'll tell the waitress when she comes back," Dusk nodded. "And you _do _have cash, right?"

"Of course," I replied. I looked in my cloak pocket, and continued, "I have enough to buy a house in here. If I wanted too."

Dusk stared at me blankly. "But you didn't know that we were coming here, right? So how did you already have money in your pocket?"

"I always carry enough of every currency in my pockets to buy at least a decent house."

"...how do you _do _that?"

"My pockets are bigger on the insides."

"Isn't carrying that much money heavy?"

"Weight reducers. They're very useful. Humans come up with them in...oh, I think it's the thirty-first century." I hesitated before saying, "Well, maybe the thirty-second."

"How do you even _find_ money in there if your pockets are so big?" Dusk asked, still looking dumbfounded.

I smirked, and replied, "I have my ways."

"That's creepy."

"Sweetie told me that once, too." I decided to change the subject, and asked, "So what is that, anyway?" I was talking about his food.

Dusk looked down at his dish. "Er, a Pearl Seawich. Mind you, it sounded a lot more appetizing on the menu than it actually is."

I gasped, and exclaimed, "I love those! They're like crepes only better! How could you not like them?"

"I dunno. They're just not that good," Dusk replied, shrugging.

I pulled the dish with the Pearl Seawich over to my side of the table. Dusk had only taken about two bites of it, so it wasn't completely ruined.

"Wait, you're going to eat it?" Dusk asked. "Aren't you worried about...like, getting my germs, or something?"

"You know, there's this thing that humans created," I began. "It's really handy. It helps you cut off stuff from its original place, so that you can remove the germs."

"Really? What's it called?"

"A knife," I replied, rolling my eyes. I unwrapped Dusk's silverware from his napkin and started to remove the part he had bitten off.

"Oh. I knew that," He replied, and I visibly saw him hold back a laugh. He pretended to be irritated with me...again.

At that moment, the waitress came back and took Dusk's second order. I took a bite of my new food, and was very happy with the outcome. It tasted like...deliciousness. I'm not even sure how to describe it. I have no clue why Dusk wouldn't like it.

After the waitress left, Dusk leaned in toward me a little, and began speaking very softly, "There's another reason why I really needed to see you. I stopped by the library this morning to study up on some history, and I found this one book. I think you should read it. I haven't even finished the passage yet, but Pete, he's the librarian, told me a lot about it. He explained all about the war and what's going on. But I don't think that you should read it until we're somewhere quiet. You know how you get when you discover stuff...all loud and talkative."

I smiled, not taking any offense in the last bit that he said, and giggled, "See? There's my little explorer. Good work, Agent Dusk."

"Thanks," Dusk laughed, and did a little bow in his seat before digging into his crab soup.

• • •

"Ah, aliens...they can be so stupid sometimes...fighting over some key that no one has even found yet," I murmured, shaking my head. "Makes sense, though."

Dusk and I had quickly traveled back to my hotel room after lunch, and he had explained about the key and what Pete had told him while at the library. I was sitting on my bed, and Dusk was sitting on the bed across from mine. The book Pete had given Dusk was in my hands, open to the page about the Key.

"So you don't think it exists?" Dusk asked.

"No, of course it's real."

"But Pete said it was magical. You know, a wizard made it."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Happens sometimes. Not all fairy tales are false, Dusk. Open up that brain of yours and let it in."

Dusk gave me a somewhat strange look, but didn't say anything.

"Well, at least now we know what we're supposed to be doing here," I sighed, slamming the red book shut.

Dusk jumped a little, and a puzzled look crossed his face.

"Don't tell me you don't know?" I asked, a little surprised. He didn't reply, so I explained, "Well, we have to destroy that key, of course. If it's causing a war, than it's too dangerous to be kept."

He took a moment to think about this, and then asked, "But how will we find it? Pete said that everyone that has gone looking for the key hasn't come back from...what was it called?"

"Rojo Serpentine cave," I finished for him. "And yes, I know that. But we're different from 'everyone.' We're very, very different. It's not everyday that you come across a girl that can die twelve times and a boy that can heal himself and others. I think that sometimes we both forget that we ourselves are actually aliens."

Dusk thought about this for a second, and then shrugged. "I guess so. But once we have the key, how exactly do we destroy it? If it's that powerful, then don't you think it will be difficult?"

"Yes, I considered that," I replied. "A key that can steal other people's thoughts, ideas, and wishes ought to be very strong. I reckon that we won't be able to just smash it with a hammer. It's probably like a diamond. The only thing that can hurt it is another version of itself. It probably takes something very powerful to destroy it. Maybe an enchanted weapon, a spell...something like that. But first things first, we need to actually find it."

"Do you suppose there are aliens in that cave?" Dusk asked.

I nodded. "I'm sure of it. There are aliens in every cave around here. But I've got this." I lifted my cloak up to show Dusk the sword I had bought this morning.

"So _that's _what you've been doing!" Dusk exclaimed. "Haggling with blacksmiths."

"Yup." _And watching his hot son..._I added in my head, smiling a little coyly. "You made friends with an old dude, so I...never mind." "Pops" and I weren't really friends, last time I checked.

"When are we going to try and find the Key?" Dusk asked, a hopeful glint in his eye.

"I was thinking tomorrow," I replied. "I'd rather go during the morning than at night. Then we have all day to find the Key, if need be."

Dusk nodded. "Sounds good to me. What are we going to do until then?"

I smiled, and replied, "We could go out and enjoy some of the festivities...even if they aren't for a very good reason."

Dusk smiled, and replied, "Sounds good to me. I don't think I've ever been to a festival before."

"I don't think I have, either," I laughed. "Come one...I've read about Elephant Ears in stories before...they're like cinnamon rolls, only better."

We started walking toward the door, debating about what was better: Cinnamon rolls, or Crab soup (Dusk really seemed to like it at lunch today).

Just before we left, I took one last look at the room.

This whole Key thing may be the death of me.

Literally.

• • •

**Gr...it's kinda short. :/ But I REALLY wanted to get this out to you guys. Next chapter will be longer. And exciting-er. If that's a word. ;P**

**By the way, has anyone ever read the book **_**Watership Down?**_** It's on my reading list for an advanced English course in the fall. I like it so far...so if you haven't read it, I totally recommend it!**

**R+R, please! :)**


	40. Chapter 39: Fireworks & Rock Climbing

**Yeah. I've decided I fail at keeping a regular updating schedule. And for that I am very, very sorry. :/**

**Anyway. **

**ENJOY!**

**Of Fireworks and Climbing walls**

**Dawn's POV-**

Dusk and I walked down the crowded streets of Emmerland. Because it was evening, the festival had really kicked off. Stands with games and food bordered both sides of the streets, and you could hardly get to the normal shops and stores. We had just finished dinner, and had decided to roam the streets a little and find something to do until the fireworks, which were in two hours.

"Everyone is so happy," Dusk commented. He had to speak loudly to be heard over the endless amounts of people.

We continued to walk as I shook my head in reply. "No, not really. If you look closely at some of the people, they're rather upset. Especially the women. No one likes war. This festival is simply to lift people's spirits a little."

After this little exchange, Dusk began looking closer at people's faces closely. I watched his eyes dart across their features, reading people like they were books.

"How do you know so much?" He asked this question quietly, though somehow I managed to hear. "After all, you are only thirteen, right?"

I took a moment to think about this before replying, "I'm a Time Lady. I think...I think I have this natural...instinct, I suppose, to just _know _things." I smiled, and added, "Plus, my brain can manage to read three times as fast as your brain can, so I can read that many more books."

Dusk smiled and shook his head. Then, he asked, "So, what do you want to do?"

I shrugged, and responded, "I have no idea. We could eat, play games, watch some horse races...anything you want. But you have to promise me that we'll be back early enough to get a good spot for the fireworks. I've never seen any in real life, so I don't want to miss them."

He laughed, and replied, "It's hard to miss fireworks. They shoot straight up into the sky, Dawn." Then, Dusk saw me glaring at him, and added, "But I promise we'll get a good spot. Where do you think they'll shoot the firework from?"

"Um...probably from the highest point in town, I suppose. But it will have to be flat. So...Scarlet Hill, I think, which is over there." I pointed to the right of us, where a huge plateau loomed over town. There were already some men up there, and they appeared to be setting something up.

"Nice guess," Dusk laughed. "Come on, let's go get some pizza or something."

"Uh...Dusk? They don't have pizza here."

"...Dang."

• • •

"Can I open my eyes yet?" I asked, stumbling over yet another rock.

Actually, I don't even know if it was a rock. For all I know, it could've been a caterpillar or something.

Though I don't know if it's possible to actually stumble over a caterpillar.

"No, not yet," Dusk laughed. "Just a little longer, I promise. You said you wanted to see the fireworks, so you're going to see the fireworks."

"But fireworks shouldn't require me to trip over several rocks, tree roots, and who knows what."

"Oh, these fireworks do."

After Dusk and I had eaten some food, we had moved on to the stalls to play some games for a while. I had beaten him at darts, pin the tail on the donkey, ring tosses...everything!

Well, everything except the hammer swinging game.

Idiot boy with his idiot boyish muscles.

Though he did win me a little raccoon plushie. I named her Whisper. Dusk insisted that the raccoon was a boy, but I rejected that idea, and told Dusk that if I were going to have a raccoon stuffed animal, she was going to be a girl, and I was going to name her Whisper.

He seemed to except that after I—somewhat playfully-threatened to drop him off at Leadworth.

So, now we're going who-knows-where to watch some fireworks. Dusk told me that he had some "special plan" that I had to close my eyes for so that it would be a surprise.

"Where are we going?" I asked for about the millionth time.

"You'll see, Dawn! Hasn't anyone ever taught you that patience is a virtue?"

I swear, I could _hear _that boy smile.

"Patience is only a patient person's virtue," I grumbled. "Not mine."

"Well, we're almost there. And you don't want to be in a bad mood for fireworks. They're too cool for that. Now, watch your step."

He said that a little too late, and I tripped on something slippery. Dusk caught my waist just before I hit the ground, and I was extremely tempted to open my eyes.

"You alright?" He asked a little breathlessly.

"Yeah," I replied. "Fine. _Still _curious about where we're going, though. This won't kill me, will it?"

Dusk replied, but I didn't hear it. I realized the double meaning behind my words.

Maybe some crazy aliens had secretly abducted Dusk while I was out and now he was under their control and leading me to my absolute death and-

"Well, here we are. You can open your eyes now."

My eyes flew open, and I sighed with relief to realize that I was alive, the air was still breathable, Dusk's eyes were still blue, and nachos had not yet taken over the planet.

That was when where we _were _actually sunk in.

"We're...in...a boat?" I asked, looking around at the lake that now surrounded us. We were already a couple of feet away from the dock, because Dusk had silently started rowing. "...how did I not notice you putting me on a _boat_?"

Dusk smiled, and replied, "You know, I was wondering the same thing. Sometimes I worry about you, Dawn. It would be fairly easy for some alien to come and kill you, especially if you're thinking about how to reverse the color blue so that it's red. Or something like that."

I ignored this comment. Instead, I looked around and saw the sun, which was just peeking over the hills in the distance, about ready to set. The trees' silhouettes were silently swaying in the soft breeze, and even the lake was calm.

"So why are we on a boat?"

"It's the best place to watch the fireworks."

"But how did you get us here?"

"I had to talk to a few people while you were busy playing games. Actually, I also pick pocketed you. I needed money to rent the boat."

"Gee, thanks," I laughed. "And I was wondering why my pockets felt lighter."

"Oh, and we may have set the city on fire."

"...good going, Dusk."

Suddenly, a huge _bang _sounded. I jumped, rocking the boat violently, and my eyes snapped up to look at the sky.

A huge explosion of red light seemed to fall from the stars that glittered above. My eyes widened at the sight, and I gasped at the beauty of the firework. It was very, very big, and seemed to stretch for a mile. The noise was terrifying, but the appearance of the firework seemed as calm as flower petals floating in the wind. Little red sparks flew from the center like glittering raindrops.

"Oh, _wow_..." I whispered. "Dusk...is that...a firework?"

Dusk smiled. He was looking at the sky as well.

"Yeah," he responded. "The best I've everseen. And I've seen a lot of fireworks."

We were silent for a few moments, simply watching the fireworks. They reflected off of the water beautifully, and made brilliant popping and banging and squealing noises every time one appeared in the sky. They were more amazing than any of the fireworks I had ever seen in movies, books, or pictures. These were _real. _

They seemed to shoot up like plants from the ground, and exploded in green, red, orange, pink, and every other color imaginable.

"My Grandpa and I used to watch fireworks a lot back home," Dusk suddenly murmured at one point. "On the last Sunday of every month, someone in Leadworth would shoot off some fireworks to celebrate the past month, and we'd go watch them. They weren't nearly as great as these, though."

I looked up at him to see his eyes sparkling.

"Do you ever miss your Grandpa?" I asked, my eyes glued to his.

He glanced at me, and then glanced at the water. "Yes," he responded. "A lot. But...I think he's looking down at me and smiling. Sometimes...I can feel him."

I wondered if Dusk would feel me when I died. Would I go to heaven? _Is _there a heaven?

Finally, it dawned on me: A part of me is going to die.

Tears flooded my eyes, making the fireworks in the sky blur together.

Odds are, if a part of me is going to die, the other part won't be able to make it.

How could one part of me live without the other?

It was all so confusing.

"Dawn," Dusk asked suddenly, "are you okay? You've seemed really distant since the day we crash landed here."

"It's...nothing," I replied. I nonchalantly rubbed my eyes, hoping the tears wouldn't come back.

Dusk raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure?"

"I promise, I'm fine."

"I wasn't asking if you were fine. I was asking if there was something going on," Dusk replied a little coolly.

I averted his gaze, and turned back to face the fireworks. Then, after a few moments, I said, "Have you ever had a secret that you _had _to keep from someone, for their own good?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw Dusk nod.

"How did it turn out?" I asked.

"Mostly everything was okay," he responded. "But I still feel kind of bad for not telling the person."

"Well...that's kind of what's going on right now," I explained. "I'm not telling you what's going on for your own good. Because if I told you, then you'd be upset with me, and you wouldn't let me..." I broke off, looking over at him. "All...all that I'm trying to say, is that—"

A huge banging sound cut me off. A gigantic firework had shot into the sky. It was golden, and shaped like a star.

My eyes continued to be glued to the fireworks. But my hand slithered over to where Dusk's was, and I held onto his hand tightly.

Thankfully, he didn't question what I was going to stay.

But it was kind of nice to sit there, hand in hand, and enjoy the fireworks, and forget that my life could very well end tomorrow.

• • •

"I'm sorry," I whispered, leaving the little note on the bedstead next to Dusk's bed. Then, I scurried quietly out of the hotel room.

After the fireworks last night, Dusk and I had gone back to our hotel room and, after I had quickly changed (in the bathroom) into a spare nightgown that Erin lent me, we had gone to bed. I had told Dusk that we would go to the cave to look for the key in the morning, so he had to get some good sleep.

But I had tossed and turned all night, getting over the fact that a part of me was going to die, and probably the rest of me with it. Eventually, I decided that I would leave very early to try and find the key myself, because if I _was_ going to die, I didn't want Dusk coming down with me.

And so, I had written a note, telling him that I was doing a few errands.

Hopefully that will buy me some time before he realizes what I'm really doing and comes looking for me in that stupid cave.

I didn't really have too much of a solid plan. Basically, it was get to the cave, explore a little, and find the key. Maybe kill a few aliens with my legit sword on the way. I didn't really want to kill any, but if it was for self defense then I had to.

The town was very quiet compared to yesterday's festival. Then again, it was only six in the morning, and not many people are out at that time of day.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I heard a voice call out from behind me, "Excuse me, milady!"

I turned around to see the guy from the blacksmith shop running toward me.

Not the old one, the cute one.

He was in dirty work clothing, and his hair was still sandy-brown, but it looked a little less well kept today.

The guy was running toward me, and I realized that there was a sword tied to his belt, much like the one that was hiding underneath my cloak.

Meh. Makes sense. He _is _a blacksmith, after all.

I waved a little bit as he stopped to stand in front of me, wondering what he could ever want with me. After all, I'm simply a girl with fiery red hair and emerald green eyes.

Oh, and I'm a Time Lady. That ought to count for something.

"Hello," the boy greeted. "You're the girl who came to the shop yesterday, right?"

I nodded. "Yes, I am. Why?"

"Well..." The boy trailed off a little, and then continued, "you bought that sword yesterday, and then when I saw you here, walking toward the forest, I could only assume that you're going to one of the caves."

"Yes," I replied. "I am going to the caves."

"Well...would you like me to accompany you?"

"I don't need any help, thanks."

"But surely a lady of your age-,"

"Dang. And I so thought you were different than your dad," I sighed.

The boy's eyes lit up, and he retorted, "I'm very different from my father! It's just that anyone who is going to the caves these days ought to have someone go with them!"

I changed the subject completely, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Jay," he replied.

"Really? You look like more of a Robin to me." I smiled, and then continued, "I'm going to the caves by myself. But if it makes you feel any better, I'll stop by your father's shop, just to prove to you that I'm perfectly fine. Oh...and if, by any chance, a boy with brown hair kind of like yours asks you about a girl with red hair, tell him I'm in the caves."

I started to walk away, leaving Jay there in a slightly stupefied state. "See you later, Robin Hood!"

After I was a few more feet away, I pulled out a map of the forest that I had picked up at the festival last night out of my cloak pocket.

"So if I wanted to go to Rojo Serpentine cave, then I have to go...that way," I murmured to myself, tracing the little red line with my finger.

The forest was somewhat intimidating, because not much sun penetrated the densely planted trees. All sorts of strange creatures made even stranger noises that ranged from squawks to squeals to squeaks, and the plants seemed to grapple with my cloak, which fluttered a few inches behind me as I walked.

I blocked out the noises, and continued walking.

After looking at the map a few more times, I estimated I would have to walk about half an hour before I reached the cave. Once inside...well, who knew what to expect in there. Probably lots of aliens...and maybe a sort of maze. I mean, getting to the key won't be easy.

That's why I brought snacks!

Really, though. I have an apple, a granola bar, and a little bag of carrots in my cloak pocket.

Who knows, maybe I'll be really hungry, and I'll find the key, but I won't be able to grab it without eating a carrot, because it's protected by a you-must-eat-carrots spell.

I smiled to myself. Sometimes I wonder about my sanity...

Hopefully I'll find the key. Then I need to ask someone a few questions about it.

Let's just say that I have my suspicions about Mr. Pete.

About twenty minutes of steady walking later, I wondered when this journey would start becoming difficult. Maybe this whole Rojo Serpentine cave was a myth. Maybe there wasn't even a key, and this war was actually over nothing.

I mean, this seems too easy...after all, I'm already here.

Or so the map says.

I looked up from the map, and started to look around me. There was no cave nearby. Only thickly planted trees, bushes, and...

A big, looming cliff. Actually, it was probably the edge of a mountainside.

I looked up, and realized that there was a big hole in the side of the mountain about thirty-five feet up. It dawned on me that it was probably the cave entrance.

"Dang," I murmured aloud. "I think I just jinxed myself."

After about a minute of investigating the mountainside, I realized that I was going to have to climb it in order to reach the cave. It shouldn't be difficult, because there were holds all over, but the climbing wasn't the part I was worried about. After all, I had spent hours in the TARDIS rock-wall room, and was pretty good at it.

There, I had a harness.

Here, I did not.

• • •

**Bum, bum, BUMMMMMMM. **

**muhahahhaha!**

**Ahem. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter. Next chapter...will Dawn succeed in trying to find the key? Will part of her die trying? Or will she need Dusk to help her get through the cave? Is it possible that she won't die at all? Maybe the prophecy has been totally miscalculated? **

**Lots of questions. **

**Review please. :)**


	41. Chapter 40: The Key

**WOOHOO! Chapter 40! :)**

**You know...this is actually a longer chapter compared to my other ones. And it is very action-packed. I hope you like it. :)**

**ENJOY!**

**Chapter 40: The Key**

I looked up at the tall, looming mountainside one last time before grasping a little rock that jutted out of the side.

And then, I was climbing.

You'd think with this cave being famous and all, people would have built a staircase or something by now. But _no, _half of the fun is getting there.

Each of my movements were extremely cautious. I progressed at the pace of a sloth, testing each hold before applying any of my body weight to it.

The first problem I came across was when I was about ten feet up. The wall started to have less holds, and I had to stretch further to reach some of them. As I was reaching my right hand for another hold, my left foot slipped off of the little ledge it had been resting on. I let out a little "oof" noise, and then tried to stretch my foot up to the next closest hold.

I let out a little sigh of relief when I was able to balance myself again. Taking a little, tiny break, I rested my head against the wall for about ten seconds, letting the sweat that streamed down my neck cool me off a little bit. The sun was starting to rise further into the sky, and the air was turning warmer, as well. I sighed. The longer I waited here, the hotter it was going to get.

And so, I continued on.

The going only got tougher. I slipped many more times, and it took me twice as long to get up the next ten feet. Tears of frustration started to blur my vision, and I began to have doubtful feelings.

"No," I gasped out loud. "I have to keep going."

The rocks became sharper and rougher, as well as farther apart. For the first time in my life, I hated having short legs. Before, it didn't really mean much. But when you're trying to climb a thirty-foot wall...your view on things change.

I breathed out a little sigh of relief when I realized that I only had about three feet to go. But I guess I got a little too cocky, because I lost my balance after climbing another foot. One of my hands slipped, and I ended up cutting it on a sharp, jutting rock. I let out a little yelp when the rock that had been supporting my right foot began to crumble under my weight.

Ignoring the stinging pain in my hand, I half-scrambled, half-climbed the rest of the wall. When I came to the cave opening, I quickly heaved myself over the edge, and just laid on the cool, smooth surface for a little bit. My chest heaved, and I started to wonder when my two hearts would slow down.

Lifting my injured hand, I saw that the cut went all the way from my ring finger to the bottom of the palm of my hand. I sighed, and whispered, "Where is Dusk-the-nanogene-boy when I need him?"

Oh, that's right. I left him at the hotel.

I'm an idiot.

"Okay," I whispered to myself after a few more moments of rest. "So that was definitely difficult."

I looked up at the sky, and wondered how long it had been since I had started the journey. I assumed it was probably somewhere around seven twenty. Climbing the wall had taken quite a large chunk of time, but it took an even larger chunk of my energy.

I wondered if Dusk was still sleeping, or if he was patiently waiting for me to get home from my errands. Maybe he was already searching for me in the dark, vast forest.

This thought gave me enough energy to stand up, wiggle my fingers and toes, and start my journey into the cave.

Inside of the cave it was dark, but I could still see fairly well after my eyes adjusted. I realized that the "entrance" of the cave wasn't a tunnel, like I had expected it to be, but, instead, it was about the size of a modern hotel lobby. My eyes grew to the size of tennis balls as I looked around the giant area. It was clear and open, and somewhere nearby I could hear the dripping of water. The air was a bitter, yet fresh, and the ground underneath my tennis shoes felt smooth.

It was at this point that I reached into my cloak pocket, and pulled out a box of matches and a torch.

"Dawn, you really are too smart," I murmured to myself while striking a match against the box. "How did you know it would be dark in here? ...oh, that's right, caves are always dark."

I could see even more when I lit up the torch. My shadow seemed to dance on the now dimly-lit wall, and I found that the water I had heard was from a little stream nearby that had managed to weave its way in and out of the hard rock floor.

But it was not the shadows or the small stream that really caught my attention.

In front of me were four separate tunnels that branched off from the cave "lobby." Each tunnel had a symbol above it, which had been engraved in the rock. They weren't in any language I had ever seen. This fact was especially surprising, seeing as I am a Time Lady, and I know a whole ton of symbols. Not to be cocky or anything, but this is a first.

I sighed, walking a little closer to the tunnels. My two hearts had finally caught up with the rest of my body, and, though my hand was still stinging, the bleeding had _mostly_ stopped. A few little drops of blood still dripped down from the cut, but...well, thank goodness it was shallow.

Turning my attention back to the wall, I scrutinized each of the symbols carefully. The first one looked something like a first year's drawing of a sun, the second symbol was a strange squiggly line, the third symbol looked a little like an oak leaf, and the last symbol looked like the middle of a tree stump, and had many rings inside of each other. Each one was very smooth and perfect looking, and had a sort of stone frame around it, so I knew that the symbols had been intentionally put above each tunnel. The question was...which one was the correct tunnel to take if I wanted to get to the key?

After a quick sigh, I decided to take the tunnel that had the squiggly line above it. Each of the other symbols were shapes, and the squiggly line wasn't a shape. So maybe the shape tunnels were wrong tunnels, and the squiggly line tunnel was the right one?

I walked slowly into the tunnel. It was long, narrow, and much darker than the main room. I could still see, though, thanks to my torch, which was still burning brightly. The tunnel did not seem natural, because the walls, floor, and ceiling were all perfectly smooth. This made me think that the wizard probably cast some sort of spell to make the tunnel himself.

I continued walking, my two hearts thudding, my palms sweating. I was nervous. Very, very nervous. Would the tunnel ever end? Would I get out of this cave alive? Would I ever see my dad again? Would I ever see my mum again? Would I see Dusk again?

Questions reeled through my mind. How come I hadn't worried about the prophecy sooner? Maybe I would've been more prepared for all of this to happen...

Oh, Dawn. You stupid, stupid idiot.

Tears threatened to spill over. But even though I was alone in the cave, I blinked them away, telling myself that everything would be okay, and that there was no reason to cry. I was going to be alright.

Even my own thoughts didn't sound convincing anymore.

I continued to walk, one step at a time, trying to contain myself. One foot in front of the other. You know, I think there's a song in some old Christmas movie for that...

And then, suddenly, the tunnel ended. I had been so caught up in my own worries that I hadn't realized where it led. The whole time I had been walking forward, that I knew, and the tunnel hadn't gone deeper into the cave. It just went straight across the cave for what seemed like ten million miles.

I was now in a huge room, much like the one I had come upon when I first entered the cave. I could still hear the gentle lull of a nearby stream, and the ground felt the same.

Okay. Good. No creepy spells or rabbits from a top hat yet.

One difference of this cave compared to the last one was that there were no tunnels. There was simply a wall with many strange markings on it. They looked sort of like hieroglyphics, but I was too far away to tell.

Walking closer to the wall, I tried to make out what the little lines and circles and etchings meant. My torch burned brightly, and I could see all of them clearly enough, but I still could not read them.

"Oh, Sweetie," I whispered. "I could really use you right now."

It was then that something caught my eye.

In the top right corner of the square of writing, I could read a word.

_Here. _

Then, one by one, each symbol began to form a word. They spiraled together, one letter formed, and then another, and then another, until a word was formed. I wondered if it was magic, or if my own reading instincts were kicking in. But, finally, I was able to read:

_Here is where love is tested._

_Here is where faith is tested_

_Only one with the purest touch may pass._

_And only one with the purest heart may survive._

_For, in the end, it is only love that can conquer all._

It took me a moment to realize that these words were written in _Gallifreyan. _

...how had I not noticed that before?

Maybe the wizard that had created the Key was trying to help me?

I shrugged this off, and tried focusing on what to do next, and what exactly the little poem engraved in the cave wall had to do with it.

"Only one with the purest touch," I whispered out loud, reading the middle line of the poem. Then, I looked at the hand I had cut while rock climbing. Little drops of blood were still bunched around the cut, but it was beginning to feel a little better.

Then, without much thinking involved beforehand, I pushed my hand against the wall.

Like magic, the little section of the wall with the writing on it turned into the shape of a door. It split from the ground to the top of the writing, around it, and back down again, forming a sort of...half-lemon shape. A crack then went down the middle, splitting the "half-lemon" into two sections. All the while, the ground was rumbling, groaning, moaning. It was like a little miniature earthquake, and I almost fell a few times.

And then, everything stopped abruptly, and the newly-formed door swung open.

I took a step forward, and realized that the door led to yet another tunnel. It was narrower than the last tunnel, but the ceilings, walls, and floors were still just as smooth. The torch I was holding licked at the air, and I felt like someone was following me, but when I looked back, no one was there.

And so, I continued on.

Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.

Pause.

Look behind.

Continue.

I began to grow slightly weary when the feeling that I was being followed grew. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, even longer than the last one, and the air seemed to be even more still, even more quiet. The only thing that made noise were my footsteps, and even that sound was beginning to fade.

The silence seemed to creep along behind me, waiting for the right moment to pounce. I shuddered, not able to shake off the feeling of danger. Even my torch, the only source of light in the whole tunnel, was starting to burn out.

Nevertheless, I continued to walk.

Left foot, right foot, left foot, right.

There was no point in looking behind anymore. I knew that the only thing following me was the silence, the stillness, and the darkness. They seemed to stalk me, like I was their prey.

A tidal wave was forming in the distance. It was going to wash over me, destroy me. Something bad was going to happen.

I had never felt so alone in my entire life.

No one was there. No one at all. Just me, the prey, and my predators. They gathered power from the quiet, from the stillness of the rocks, from my fear.

_Why? _I wondered. Why was I scared? Silence, stillness, and darkness were only feelings, things of bedtime stories. I was bigger, more powerful...but...something was looming under the surface. Something even bigger than me.

I started feeling helpless, terrified. The tunnel seemed to go on forever...and ever...and ever. I wondered if it would ever end. Everything seemed to be closing in on me...

And then, just as the darkness and fear and stillness threatened to swallow me whole, I thought of Dusk.

I was doing this for Dusk. So that he wouldn't have to face the danger. I thought of his smile, his hand that rested in mine during the fireworks last night. And for my father, _the_ Doctor, so that he would be proud of me. And for Mum, who would know that I did not die in vain, because I conquered the darkness, the stillness, the silence, and the fear.

I took a deep breath, shook my head, and smiled bitterly. Nothing, not even the silence, was going to bring me down. Not as long as I had people I loved in my heart.

Ha...sounds kind of cheesy, doesn't it?

And then, the predators retreated; annoyed by the fact that something had startled their prey, made it realize that it was not in danger after all. They retreated, crawling back into the deep cracks of the universe, removing themselves from my heart and mind.

It was then that the poem made sense.

_For, in the end, it is only love that can conquer all. _

Abruptly, the tunnel ended, and, once again, I was in a large room.

I smiled.

That was most definitely difficult.

So! What next?

I walked toward the wall facing me, which, again, had writing on it. And, again, the writing was in Gallifreyan. I was able to recognize it easily this time, and the words began forming in my mind.

_This is the final test. _

_This room does not allow spells, magic, tricks._

_The innocence of the key prevents it._

_In this room lies a forgotten soul._

_To save it, take the key._

_Do with it as you please._

_It is yours by touch._

"These sound more like directions than a poem," I whispered to myself. "Strange."

After taking a deep breath, I raised my injured hand again, and touched the wall.

A door, like last time, began to form. Because I knew what to expect, I was able to keep my balance a little more easily this time, saving me a twisted ankle...or two.

What _did_ bother me, however, was the fact that in the next room, there was a forgotten soul for me to defeat. And I had no clue who or what it was.

I did not draw my sword yet. A strange sort of calming sense gathered in my chest, and I exhaled a giant breath I had been holding. It spread to the tips of my fingers, the split ends of my red hair, and the tips of my toes. The calmness grew into a sort of confidence.

This was it. Time to get the key, and, hopefully, destroy it.

The door finished forming, and, like last time, swung open.

And then, I heard a vaguely familiar roar.

It sounded like a mix of a lion and...a tractor. Or the rumble of an old car starting up on a rainy day.

I suddenly realized that I had heard the roar in the dream that I had right before we crash landed here. It was the last thing I had heard before waking up. My eyes grew wide.

Am I going to have to fight a monster?

...okay. This wizard is pretty legit.

The room beyond the door was dark. I took a hesitant step forward, shuddering slightly. The calm feeling had been replaced by a horrible, shaking fear.

"_This must be it. This must be where you die," _the fear seemed to whisper. I ignored the voice, and continued walking into the room.

At my next step, the monster roared ferociously again. Suddenly, torches seemed to light up all around me, one by one. They lined the walls of the cave, the ceiling...every where. I decided that the wizard must have cast a spell so that the challenger would at least have a chance at seeing its opponent.

The room was about as big as the previous "hotel lobbies" I had been in, but it had a shorter ceiling. Maybe it was just the torches, or maybe it was just my imagination, but the floor seemed to be stained blood-red

But that wasn't important. What _was _important was that I could see what I was going up against.

It was a dragon.

A huge, huge dragon. Like the ones that you read about in fairytales. It wasn't fat and muscular, but it appeared to be lean and agile. The dragon was mainly black, but had a few red highlights here and there. Its eyes were bright yellow, and seemed to glare menacingly at me as I took a hesitant step forward, further into the light.

"Hello there," I murmured. "I have to slay you, yeah?"

The dragon roared in response. I looked up to see that a leather collar of some sorts had been secured around its neck, and the key, which looked like a bug compared to the dragon, had been attached to it. The collar was brown, and the key was golden, so it stood out, even though it was rather small.

I took a deep breath in, and drew my sword from underneath my cloak.

"Well then," I whispered, "let's begin."

The dragon seemed to understand what I said, and roared one last time before lashing at me with a huge tail.

Really, I didn't want to kill this beautiful beast. I didn't really like killing anything, let alone dragons. But...I needed the key. And I couldn't choose one dragon over thousands of innocent people who could be killed in a war. That wouldn't be...fair, I guess.

But something about the dragon seemed very familiar. Its features, its body shape...everything about it, even its yellow eyes, seemed to stir up something in my brain, but I couldn't place my finger on it. Like it was there, but not...touchable.

"I chose the wrong day to wear a dress," I laughed out loud, barely dodging another of the dragon's sweeping tail movements. Its tail wasn't super thick, thank goodness, but it was very long. Really, the only way to dodge it was to go over it or under it. If I was lucky, it would be far enough off of the ground to duck under it, which was the easier thing to do.

After some more dodging, the dragon decided that it wasn't going to be able to kill me that way. This is when, unfortunately, the fire started coming.

We looked straight into each other's eyes, and then, just like that, fire was shooting at me from its huge, gaping mouth.

The flames licked greedily at me, as if they were famished and hadn't eaten in days.

I barely managed to escape a nasty face burn. My cloak, however, did pay the price, and I had to take it off of me quickly, throw it across the room, and hope that the fire wouldn't spread.

...dang. Now I'm going to have to buy Erin a new one.

My breaths were coming out in short, quick gasps. I had no idea how I was going to slay this dang dragon. Every time one attack ended, another would start, and all I could do was hope to dodge it.

The dragon suddenly swung its tail around, and, because the attack was unexpected, it managed to hit me square in the stomach. I flew straight across the room, and didn't stop until I hit a wall.

"Ow," I gasped out. "Okay...that hurt. That really, really hurt. Oh, ow...ah..."

I tried to stand up again, knowing that as soon as the dragon figured out where it had whisked me off to, it was going to attack me again. As soon as I tried, however, an awful stinging sensation occurred in my leg.

I looked down to see a long, deep gash that had been engraved in my calf by who-knows-what. I grimaced, knowing that that was going to be a problem. I also couldn't seem to move my left hand very well, which was going to be a problem as well. Nevertheless, I stood up, only letting a few gasps of pain escape. I gritted my teeth together, and waited for the dragon's next move.

Adrenaline kept me going. Dodging was now extremely painful, and I was much slower at it than before due to my leg. The slightest ounce of pressure caused an excruciating pain to shoot up my calf and thigh. One of the fire attacks managed to singe my hair, but, other than that, I somehow managed to escape unscathed for a period of time.

Eventually, the dragon began to incorporate its wings and claws into its strikes. I managed to get a few cuts into its scales when this happened, making our speed a little more even.

But what really saved me was dodging yet another fireball attack. It was then that, once again, the key caught my eye, and I realized what the "directions" on the wall had said.

_In this room lies a forgotten soul._

_To save it, take the key._

_Do with it as you please._

_It is yours by touch._

"I don't have...to kill you," I murmured through ragged breaths. "I just have...to free you from...the key. You're...scared...though..."

I took two seconds to catch my breath as the dragon roared once again, and then we were back at it. But this time, I had a new plan.

My main goal was to get to the dragon's backside. But I was going to have to be quick and still dodge the attacks.

As I was working my way around the giant dragon's body, my mind quickly analyzed the dragon's structure. Sharp scales lined its spine, all pointing in the same direction. By its neck, about a foot before the collar, the line of scales ended, and beyond the collar it just had a pair of long, threatening horns. I would have to stretch in order to get the collar, but...it might work.

Alright...here goes my second rock-climbing attempt of the day. Only this time, I'm scale-climbing. And my wall is moving.

I finally made it to the backside of the dragon. I was lucky: it seemed disoriented after shooting yet another blast of fire and I dodged it. But instead of running away, like I usually did, I had run toward the dragon, and its slight hesitation that followed was my key to success.

Without a second thought, I jumped, and grabbed on to a part of the dragon's tail that was about two feet away from the ground.

Then, I somewhat scooted myself up and over, so that I had a good hold on the scales, as well as on the tail itself, thanks to my legs. But it took all of my strength to keep my body up above the little pointing scales that seemed to laugh at me tauntingly. You can imagine how thankful I was for the TARDIS jungle gym room at this point of the battle.

Suddenly, the dragon roared in frustration, and then, I was flying.

Well, sort of.

It swung its tail around quickly, and I realized its tail was heading straight toward a wall.

I screamed, not really knowing what else to do except hope and pray that I didn't break anything at impact. Or, worse, die.

The impact didn't come.

I opened my eyes very, very slowly, which I had involuntarily closed, and saw that the dragon was swinging its head wildly.

"Oh," I gasped. "You...don't know...where I am. I'm like...an insect...crawling up your leg. You hardly feel...me. Ha...ha..."

My voice was barely recognizable to my own self. It cracked and sounded sore, like I was sick. My mouth was tainted with the ugly tang of blood.

Saying this, I have no clue what kept me going.

Maybe it was my pride. Maybe it was knowing that I had people to save. Maybe it was something I had to prove to myself and others. But something kept me going.

I continued to climb the scales, all the while looking at the collar that the key was somehow strapped to.

It was difficult, at first. The scales were slippery, and the dragon didn't want to stop moving. It was so confused as to where I was. Like suddenly I had disappeared.

But after a while, I got used to the motions, and I kept climbing up the scales, one by one, scooting my legs along behind me.

It was when I was by the wings that I made a crucial mistake.

I lost my balance after one of the dragon's tail swings, and my injured leg slipped in a very strange, awkward direction that I don't think legs should be twisted in.

"Ah!" I screamed in pain. "Oh, ow...worst injury...yet."

The dragon swung its head around, realizing I was there.

"Oh...shoot...I shouldn't...have screamed..."

Next came absolute pandemonium.

The dragon flailed its wings, legs, head, tail...trying everything to get me off. It was like a huge man who was scared of a tiny spider. I knew that I was going to have to get up to the end of the scale line even faster than before.

After the first movement, I realized that my leg was probably broken. Silent tears of pain were spilling out of my eyes, and sweat dripped from my forehead, but I was still determined to win this battle, whether I came out of it alive or dead.

Besides, as long as I got the key off of the dragon, someone else could come get it very easily, even if I were dead.

Finally, after much pain and sore hands, I made it up to the end of the line of scales. The collar was about a foot away, and I drew my sword from its sheath again. I was going to have to stretch in order to even touch the collar with my sword, so actually putting force into a swing to cut the collar off was going to be tough. Plus, I didn't really want to cut the dragon's throat, but...it might be necessary.

I raised my sword, stretching with my upper body and arms as far as I could, and then swung down at the collar as forcefully as I could.

Just as I swung, however, the dragon turned its head and neck around to look at me, which caused me to only clip the leather collar. I sighed, a little frustrated, and the dragon only got angrier. It tossed its head back and forth, back and forth, which made it all the more difficult to get a good swing at the collar.

Tears of frustration spilled out of my eyes, leaving a clean trail through the dirt and ash that had been dusted on my face. I wondered if I should just give up. Just fall off the dang dragon and die. That would make things so much easier.

In an explosion of anger, frustration, and fear, I lashed out with my sword.

And then...I can't really tell you what happened next.

There was a huge explosion, and I flew off of the dragon's back. It was actually kind of nice, to just be flying through the air. For a few disoriented seconds, I didn't have a single care in the world. I just...flew.

Next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor in severe pain, in a much, much worse condition than before. I had landed in an awkward position, and I think I broke a few ribs, because each time I breathed in a thousand tiny pins seemed to stab at my ribs.

The dragon roared, and I slowly opened my eyes to see that the collar was on the ground about ten feet away from me, and the dragon was right above it, making an uproar.

But it was a different sort of roar than before. It was a...happy...roar.

I watched in horror as the dragon collapsed on to the ground. It continued to thrash around a little, but, slowly, the movements were becoming slower and less forceful.

It let out one final snort, and then it was still.

My vision was blurry, but I could have sworn that I saw the faint, misty outline of the same dragon fly out of its body, and up _through_ the cave ceiling.

I closed my eyes again. I couldn't move. A feeling of despair filled my chest, my head, my finger tips, my toes...it clouded everything, leaving no trace of happiness or hope. Just...darkness. It squeezed every last morsel of oxygen out of my lungs, crushed my hopes and dreams. I felt like I was falling further and further into darkness, and nothing was going to catch me. I just kept going...and going...

And that was when I knew that I was going to die.

• • •

**OH NO!**

**Could Dawn really be dead? **

**I dunno. You tell me. What's going to happen? **

**Sorry to leave you on such an evil cliff hanger... heh. Review, please! :)**


	42. Chapter 41: Cave Kisses

**I've had quite a few requests to finish this story...so I finally got my lazy butt in gear and am publishing this chapter. If you want an explanation for my absence, read the Author's Note at the bottom. But for now, read this, because Dawn is about to die and that is a problem. :P**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 41: Cave Kisses**

**Dusk's POV-**

I woke up naturally around seven thirty in the morning. At first I was confused as to where exactly I was, and then the memories came flooding back in a big tidal wave. Dawn and I had returned to the hotel late last night after the fireworks, and decided to try and get some sleep before heading off to the cave this morning.

A silent yawn came from my mouth, and I groggily sat up. My gaze wandered over to the bed next to me, only to realize with some confusion that it was empty. The covers were all clumped together in some areas, and half of them had been thrown off the bed. One pillow was still at the head of the mattress, but the other had somehow traveled to the foot of the bed and now sat like a lump of fluff on the covers.

It was evident that Dawn had not slept well last night. That, of course, was expected. I probably wouldn't have slept well, either, but I was still in a state of content from being able to hold her hand while watching the fireworks. But...er...well, she probably didn't feel the same way.

Still...where could she have gone?

It was then that I saw the note. It was a small piece of paper with a few words written on it in such neat handwriting that you wouldn't believe it was from a thirteen-year-old.

I picked up the note, held it up to the sunlight that had started to sneak through the crack in the curtains, and read:

_Running an errand before we go. Be back in a bit._

_-Dawn _

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. An errand? What errand would she need to go on, exactly? My mind began to reel through all of the possibilities.

Let's see...yesterday she bought a sword. So that wasn't needed. We bought some food at the festival yesterday, too, so that's another possibility crossed off the list. She didn't need clothes, Erin had loaned her some. Money wasn't an issue, either. If she needed a walk or a breather or some time out or something, why hadn't she just written that in the note? I would have understood. So that couldn't be it.

Worry started to set it. She wouldn't...would she?

I stood up quickly, all traces of sleep gone from my body, and stretched my arm over to Dawn's bed, placing my hand on the barely-noticeable indent her body had left in the lumpy mattress. It wasn't warm. And Dawn was a perfectionist...she would have made the bed before leaving. Something was off.

My concern continued to build as I raced to put on a change of clothes and clean up a bit in the bathroom. Trying to convince myself it was nothing was a stupid idea. This was Dawn, after all. She wouldn't leave...unless...unless...

Oh, God, I'm going to kill that girl.

Well, not really, because I'm sort of in love with her. Plus, she'd just regenerate. But still. I'm going to flipping kill her.

It didn't take but three minutes before I was running down the creaky stairs of the Cherry Inn and outside. Erin and her mother didn't seem to be up yet, as I didn't hear any noises from the kitchen. The outside world was just as quiet. I made the conclusion that everyone was resting after the festivities yesterday. A few people roamed the street, mostly young adults and teenagers. All of them seemed pretty tired, as they spoke to each other in quiet voices and smiled pleasantly but still seemed a bit out of it.

I scanned the streets for Dawn. Her red hair, the green dress she had borrowed from Emily, her cloak, anything that looked like her. After three minutes of searching, however, I decided she was either inside a shop, or she had gone to the cave. Again, I'm going to kill her as soon as I get her.

_Unless she's already dead_, a voice deep inside of me whispered. I tell it to shut up, and continue walking.

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind me. "Excuse me, sir!"

I spun around to see a fairly tall, tan guy in work clothing running up to me. His hair was a dusty brown and so were his eyes. Dawn would think he was hot. I smirked a bit at the thought.

"Hello," I said as he came up. "Sorry, but I'm in a bit of a-

"Are you looking for the girl? The one with the red hair?" He asked, his eyes a bit frantic. I nodded, and he continued, "I thought so. I told her not to go to those caves, I swear, but she wouldn't listen. I'm a bit worried. I haven't seen her come back since she left about an hour ago."

My throat went dry. An hour was certainly enough time to get into trouble. Heck, if your name is Dawn Melody, five minutes is enough time to get into trouble.

"She left an hour ago?" I asked, trying to hide the edge of hysteria that had come to my voice. Chill, Dusk, chill.

The guy nodded. "Yes. She said that if you came looking for her to tell you that she went to the caves. I swear, I tried to tell her not to go, or at least to let me go with her. But...I'm worried she might be in trouble."

"Me, too," I mumbled, and then said a little louder, "Please, can you tell me where Rojo Serpentine cave is?"

He didn't seem surprised that was the cave she was looking for. Instead, he replied, "Of course. If you enter the forest from that path," he paused, and pointed to a path that was peeking out between two tall trees near the entrance of the woods about ten feet away, and continued, "and follow it until you reach a rock wall, look up. The entrance is up there. You'll have to climb. At least, that's what I've heard."

I nodded, narrowing my eyes a bit. Climbing. I could climb. I had learned to outwit the police and climb trees in my thieving days, way back before Dawn met me. Climbing walls couldn't be that different.

"Thank you," I replied. "Seriously. Thank you so much."

The boy nodded, and then a sparkle lit up in his eyes. "Here," he said, "take this." He took a sword out from under his cloak, and handed it to me. It was fairly lightweight, and I knew it would be easy to use, even for me, someone with little fencing experience. "I wish I could help more, but..."

"I understand," I finished for him, and gratefully accepted the sword. "You've done plenty. But now I really have to go." I looked to the forest, and finished, "I swear, if she's dead, I won't forgive myself. Or her. And if she's living, I'll kill her myself." I looked back at him and smiled. He smiled back. And that was that. It was a guy thing. No words were really needed to express the bond that had been created between us due to this mutual problem. We both just wanted to help someone who was possibly in trouble. Therefore, we were friends on the same side.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't worth a technical explanation, but you get the point.

I started walking toward the forest, and then worry overwhelmed me again, and I was running. Full-out, legit _sprinting _down the path he had directed me. One thought was on repeat in my mind: I have to find Dawn.

The trees were tall and looming, as well as extremely intimidating. I eventually got tired and forced myself to walk some of the path, but I kept my pace relatively quick. My mind flooded with possible creatures and challenges that were lurking through the caves. It would be so much easier if Dawn weren't hurt and was making her way down this path, and any second she'd break through the trees, smile at me, and hold up the key. I could see myself run up to her, pull her into a hug, tell her how worried I was, and then yell at her or something for scaring me. And then she'd say something sweet and give me that look and I'd forgive her. And then we'd kiss. Well, maybe. Probably not. But still, that would be nice.

But, of course, life isn't that easy, and fate isn't always kind to everyone.

The next few minutes were torturous. I had nothing to focus on except my thoughts, which were wandering down paths I didn't want to go, like the possibility that Dawn was dead, and then what would I do? I didn't care about my life if she wasn't in it.

God, that sounds stupid. I swear...I love this girl maybe _too _much. But it's not like I can help it. She's brilliant, smart, not to mention cute, and just...nice. And my best friend. And she gets into dangerous, stupid stuff with me and we manage to have fun and kick some alien butt while doing it. I mean, who doesn't enjoy that?

But I was too serious to enjoy old memories with her. Instead, I broke into a run again, determined to find this stupid cave and save my best friend if she needed it. If not, she was going to be yelled at. Harshly. And then I'd pull her into a hug and forgive her immediately once she started crying or something as previously stated. I'm such a softie.

Finally, after what seemed like decades, I reached the wall of rock the boy earlier had mentioned. I looked up, and, sure enough, there was the entrance to a cave.

Without hesitating, I started climbing. The sun was already high in the morning sky and I knew time was becoming limited. It only took a minute to get used to the feel of the jagged rocks versus the rough tree bark in Leadworth, but then I was off. Determination burned inside of me, and I knew each step I was closer to finding Dawn. It wasn't the key I was worried about finding anymore. It was her.

I slipped up once near the top, where there was a particularly strong stretch for my legs. I wondered how in the world Dawn had gotten up here with her puny appendages, and smiled, imagining her struggling to make each reach. It was a fairly amusing picture.

When I finally reached the top, my breath was coming out in heavy puffs, and I allowed myself a few moments of rest near the edge of the cliff. I looked down, and had to do a double take. Did I really climb that high? Wow, that's pretty awesome.

That was when something crimson red caught my eye. Blood was leaking from a small cut on my hand. I realized that I must have cut myself on one of the rocks while climbing, and laughed at myself. Jeez, I was so worried I didn't even realize it.

I then realized that if I could focus closely while healing myself with nanogenes, I might be able to pick up Dawn's thoughts or her emotions. Hopefully I could figure out where she was.

I started pulling my emotions together: my worry, my concern, my confusion, and, most of all, the love I had for adventuring and my best friend. It had become easy to master the nanogenes, but I had to slow myself down in the healing process so I could try and locate Dawn.

I searched as far as the strange power would let me, feeling for any trace of her. Panic seized me when I didn't feel her, until, suddenly, there was the faintest light in the darkness. She was there...but barely.

I jolted out of the trance, and my eyes snapped open.

She was dying.

I could feel it.

Jumping to my feet, I ran inside the cave, only to realize it was nearly pitch black.

"Crud," I muttered to myself, glancing around a bit nervously as my eyes adjusted. I could see the main room of the cave and the four tunnels in front of me from the light outside, but once I was deeper inside, it would be pitch black.

Then I remembered the nanogenes. Not only did they glow while healing, but if I could totally pinpoint Dawn's location through her feelings, I could probably navigate through the cave in my trance. As long as, of course, there were no aliens to fight that got in my way.

With that thought, I paused, slowed my breathing, and started listening for any strange noises. There were none. And when I had searched for Dawn outside the cave, I hadn't felt any other alien presences inside. Which meant, most likely, that there actually _weren't _aliens.

Odd.

So what was protecting the key?

Never mind. Screw the freaking key.

Sorry, language check. Er...the key is silly and I no longer care about it. There.

I crouched down on the floor of the cave, and searched for a rock. Eventually, I found what I was looking of: a shard off of a nearby boulder, sharp enough to cut skin.

Then, I stood back up, and let out a long sigh, looking from the shard to my wrist. Well, whatever. It wouldn't be the first time I had hurt myself in order to help Dawn. There was that time back with the Shadies, too, so this wasn't anything new. Plus, I needed to find her, and she was dying.

So, without another thought, I cut my wrist with the shard a bit until it started bleeding, and then focused back in on Dawn's trace while using the nanogenes. I could feel where she was in the cave, and where she had been before. I started walking a bit blindly toward one of the tunnels, which I was sure she had chosen thanks to the trace, and then opened my eyes as the nanogenes finished healing the cut I had created.

I thought back to one of my conversations with Nitero when I first gained these powers. She had said something like the more I knew a person, the stronger their emotions were to me. Never before had I needed to actually find the trace of a person. Thank goodness it was Dawn and I knew her so well.

As I headed toward the tunnel I felt Dawn had taken earlier, I ran the shard across my skin again, a bit surprised about how I barely felt the pain. It was probably because there was so much adrenaline going through me and I was so focused on the trace.

The nanogenes lit up the tunnel again. It stretched for about twenty or thirty feet to the next room of the cave, and so I started walking in a straight line once the nanogenes went out, taking care not to bump into the walls of the tunnel, but still going quickly. After all, Dawn was still dying. I realized in a bit of panic that I could feel her pain growing weaker and weaker. And that probably wasn't because she was starting to feel better.

My pace increased in speed as my panic did, as well. I was in the next room within thirty seconds, and entering the next tunnel. There was only one this time, though it seemed to be longer, because I couldn't see a light at the end. Dawn's trace was growing weaker again, and I swear I could almost feel her slow pulse and heartbeat through the nanogenes. It encouraged me to keep running, to keep trying to find her. She was still alive. I still had time. A limited time, yes, but it was time.

Never before in my life had I felt so worried and afraid. This was a new type of fear. It was different than any of the adrenaline rushes I had experienced from aliens. It was real. I felt like the whole world, my whole world, really, was resting on my shoulders.

I eventually reached the end of the tunnel, and I had to cut myself one last time in order to keep the nanogenes going. The tunnel opened into another large room, and then there was a small door that lead to another room which seemed to be dimly lit with torches. It was then that I felt Dawn on my radar again, this time stronger than before. She was here, but barely.

As soon as I entered the room, I stopped short, trying to take in the picture before me without my heart stopping.

A huge dragon appeared to be dead in the very center of the room. Its eyes were glazed over and empty. Nearby the dragon was something that looked like a collar and some smashed glass. And nearby that was Dawn. She was hauntingly still, and in the light of the torches I could see ashes and cuts and blood all over her body. Her red hair was splayed in all different directions, and her green eyes were closed. My heart skipped a beat and I couldn't move for a few seconds. My stomach twisted like a spring at the sight of her.

Suddenly my body came back to life, and I was kneeling next to her within two seconds. One of my hands reached for her wrist to check pulse, and my other hand went to her face. I rubbed her cool cheek with my thumb, hoping maybe she'd either wake up or find some sort of comfort. Her pulse was so, so weak, but it was there. My only question was why she wasn't regenerating.

I knew I didn't have time for questions, though. I started pulling all of my emotions together. My fear, my love, my confusion, my worry, my concern, everything. I waited for the nanogenes to come.

They didn't.

Instead I sat, knowing that the nanogenes should have been activated by now, but they weren't. I was now paralyzed with fear. No nanogenes, no regeneration. What was going on? Dawn couldn't die. No, she wouldn't die. I wouldn't let her.

"Dawn," I whispered feebly. "Dawn, wake up. Wake up, wake up...wake up!" My voice rose in volume a bit, but I stayed quiet. It seemed right, for some reason.

Dawn stayed silent and still. I willed her eyes to open in my head, willed her heart to beat faster.

"Come on," I whispered. "Regenerate, or heal, or...or just do something...please..."

And then, by some miracle, her eyes opened. They were wet and filled with tears, but her body still didn't move at all. Only her eyes opened. I wondered if she was just too exhausted to attempt to do anything.

"Dawn," I murmured, my voice heavy with relief. I couldn't think of anything to say. My throat had a huge lump in it, anyway. "H-Hey."

She smiled the weakest smile I'd ever seen in my life. I felt my eyes fill with tears, but I swallowed and tried to blink them away.

Dawn visibly swallowed as well, and then winced. I reached for her hand, and she quietly replied, "I've never been...so happy to see you...in my...life." She smiled a bit more strongly after that, and continued, "I'm...sorry...I didn't..."

I interrupted her, and said, "Don't waste your breath on that, Dawn. Really. Tell me what to do, instead. You aren't regenerating and my nanogenes aren't working. Please, tell me what to do."

"The...key," she whispered, closing her eyes.

"I don't care about the key, Dawn," I murmured. "We can take care of that later. For now, tell me what to do about you."

"No...this room...the key...prevents..." she trailed off, and I watched her scrunch up her face in concentration. Her eyes closed and her brow creased. It was several seconds before she continued. "Prevents...powers, you could...say. Prevents regenerations and...nanogenes. You have to claim it...first. That way...the fight...stayed fair..." She was growing weaker by the second; I could tell that without nanogenes. "It's over by the...collar. In the glass shards."

I nodded abruptly, gave her hand a squeeze, and then started crawling over to the pile of glass. The key was easy to pick out among the shards, and it only took me a second to find it.

I didn't hesitate to pick it up, but once it was actually in my hand, I froze. Something about the air seemed to change in that moment. A stinging sensation blazed like fire in my right hand, and the key shone brightly for a split second. Strange whispering noises echoed in my head for a few moments, but then they, too, were gone. I let out a breath, wondering if Dawn felt any of that, too. I wasn't about to ask her, though, as there were more important things to worry about.

Once I was at her side again, I dropped the key and held her face in my hands. She visibly relaxed, and the room was filled with light as soon as I pulled all of my emotions together and let the nanogenes out. Her cuts began to close up, leaving behind only traces of damage, and the color began to return to her face as well as her eyes. She let out a long breath, and then the nanogenes retreated back to the palms of my hands.

Dawn slipped back to the floor of the cave, and started to make a strange noise. It took me a second to realize she was laughing.

"Give me a minute, Dusk," she giggled. "And...and then you can...yell at me. I'm still a wee bit tired."

I chuckled a bit, and then replied, "You should be just a wee bit tired. By the looks of it, you just fought of a dragon single-handedly. A freaking _dragon._ And you didn't even invite me!"

"Didn't I ask for you to wait to yell at me?" Dawn teased.

"Do I _ever _follow your instructions?"

"Of course not. You're my senior, why should you?" She started to shift her weight, and I realized she was trying to sit up. I put my hand on her back for support, and she smiled at me gratefully. "Thanks, Dusk."

"For helping you sit up, or for saving your life?" I asked softly. Her eyes watered a bit, and I moved my hand from her back to her cheek, and then tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear.

We both moved in for a hug at the same time. It was a little awkward, since we were both sitting, but sweet nonetheless. She started to cry, and I was trying to hold back tears, as well.

Once we pulled apart, I kept one hand on her shoulder, and then looked her in the eye and said, "Dawn Melody, promise me you will never, ever do anything like that again. Please. You don't know how much you scared me back there. I thought...I didn't know if you were going to make it."

A few moments passed before she replied. "I'm so...I'm so sorry, Dusk. I just couldn't bear to...I didn't want to..." She trailed off. Then, she grabbed my hand that wasn't on her shoulder, and continued, "I didn't want you to get hurt. Not at my expense. Not at this stupid key's expense. Not even for this planet's expense. I don't...I'm selfish, and I don't care if people die...but..." she looked down at my hand, and then continued, "I do care if you die. And I didn't want to drag you into something that could have been really dangerous. And I was scared, and I was confused, and sometimes when you're scared and confused things become gray instead of black and white and I guess I didn't realize how much I might have made you scared and...well..."

"Dawn," I murmured, "just promise you won't do it again."

"I promise." She sniffled a bit and then hiccupped, which I couldn't help but smile at.

"Good girl," I said.

It was then that I realized that I wasn't sure whether I wanted to leave that cave yet. Despite the fact that it was dim and cold and everything was covered in soot or still burning, the world outside was still waiting for us to destroy this key. I also knew that when we walked out of this cave, there wouldn't be anymore sentiments between Dawn and I. The trance, the magical moment, would be over. It would be back to business before who knew how long.

Suddenly, I decided I wasn't going to let that happen.

Unfortunately, Dawn spoke first.

"So, uh, I know this is kind of, well, maybe a stupid time to say this, but..." she looked up at me and then continued, "When you have a near-death experience it kind of clears things up for you, and, well..."

"Dawn Melody," I said in mock disbelief, "are you at a loss of words?"

"Sh-shut up," she sniffled, and gently punched me in the shoulder. We smiled at each other, when suddenly her eyes lit up, and she said, "Yes, I am at a loss of words, believe it or not. But sometimes...well, actions...they speak louder."

You can guess what happened next, but I'll tell you anyway.

We both leaned in at the same time, and then we paused once our lips were about an inch away. I smiled at her, and whispered, "Isn't this the guy's job?"

"Why do you think I'm waiting for you?" she whispered back, her smile matching mine.

And then, well, I kissed her.

It was a completely innocent kiss, and it lasted a good length of time. My heart was racing, and I expected hers was, too. Everything around us completely disappeared, and everything inside of me did, too. There were no thoughts of what danger waited outside now that we had the key, and there were no thoughts of the future or the past. It was just here and now and the present, which is pretty rare for a time traveler and her companion. I felt a bit like I was going to suffocate due to the happy lump in my throat, but at the same time I had never felt so alive and happy in my life.

After we finally broke apart, Dawn rested her forehead against mine, and whispered, "I think...I mean, maybe...I might love you."

"I know that," I whispered back, still trying to bring myself back to reality. "I love you, too."

"No, I mean...properly love you. Like, in...well, _that _way. Is that strange?"

I chuckled, and then replied, "We've always been strange, so what does it matter?" I kissed her nose after saying this, and then finally took my forehead away from hers. Her eyes were dancing, and even covered in soot she was still the prettiest girl I'd ever seen.

After a few more seconds of just looking at her, I grabbed the key off the cave floor, and stuck it in my pocket. Then, I stood up, and offered Dawn my hand to help her up.

"I hate to say it," she said, "but we've still got a job to do out there."

"Well, at least you aren't dead and you have me to help you," I chuckled.

She glanced at me, and then averted her gaze to the cave entrance. "Yeah," she mumbled. "Not dead." Some emotion flitted across her features, and then it was gone too quickly for me to read it. Instead, she returned to her more-alive, happy self again, and continued, "After this, I say we spend a week on vacation. And eating ice cream. And scones. Scones are good. And I want to see fireworks again. I like fireworks."

I laughed, and replied, "All in good time. But let's destroy this key, first, Dawn. And _then _we can eat scones and fireworks."

As we started walking toward the room entrance, Dawn gave me a funny look, and then said, "But you can't _eat _fireworks...can you?"

"I meant the scones, Dawn. Not the fireworks."

"Oh. Right. I knew that. Sorry, still a little fuzzy from that kiss." She winked at me, and then continued, "Now let's go! I've got to tell you about all the crazy stuff that happened in there. Oh, and I'm really looking forward to meeting this librarian guy you were talking about earlier. I think he may have some valuable information for us. What was his name...Pete, right? Oh, I love a good Pete. Pete's are always good fellows. At least, that's what I've read in books. Now that I think about it, I'm not actually sure I've ever met a Pete in real life before...maybe they're actually horrible people..."

I smiled while listening to her rant. It was frightening to think I had almost lost this girl today.

Let's just hope it doesn't happen again anytime in the next few hours.

"...and then there's Voldemort. If Rowling taught me anything, it was never trust a guy named Voldemort. That, and that the crazy ones, Luna, for example, are always the best. Oh, and that you can't ever friend-zone a ginger. It's like, impossible, I guess. We do have souls, though, I swear. In fact, I have twelve of them. At least, I think I have twelve, I might actually have like three or two or none, depending on various theories and beliefs. Not religious beliefs, though. Oh, jeez, those can get confusing. Did you know that there are twenty-one thousand six hundred and ninety three religious practices in this galaxy alone? And that's not even including the alternate universes..."

• • •

**A/N: Okay. So this next paragraph will somewhat explain my long absence. If you don't care, skip to the following paragraph. **

**Here's the deal: first of all, writer's block. It sucks. Everyone knows that. Second of all, Moffatt screwed up some of my plot with (SPOILER) his whole River-is-Melody-Pond thing, despite the fact that I suspected that after the Pandorica arc. Also, I was taking a super advanced English class this past year in which I covered one grade in one semesters instead of one grade in two semesters, so I'm now about three grades ahead of my normal class. Next, I moved to a totally and completely new state so that kinda (REALLY) threw me off. This all happened over the course of a school year, and so by that time I had basically thrown in the towel on ANY sort of creative writing, not just TFC, and lost all motivation to write anything until life settled down a bit. Well, the lovely Cre Okami and Sarahaley sent me PM's asking to continue the story, and so I finally decided to, since that last chapter WAS a pretty awful cliffhanger, but that was a few months ago, so my prime reason, like everyone else's, though most refuse to admit it, is that I AM VERY LAZY AND BUSY AND COULDN'T MAKE TIME FOR MY FAVORITE HOBBY. :P BUT, nevertheless, here is the chapter, and I will AT LEAST finish this story, if not write the sequel that I promised earlier. It's just been really really hectic and I probably lost a lot of followers, which is pooey, but...I know I still have two. haha. :) **

**Right, so here's my legitimate A/N, not just a bunch of excuses on why I haven't updated in forever:**

**WOOOOOOOO! DUSK AND DAWN BOTH FINALLY HAD A KISS THAT THEY BOTH REMEMBERED! I figured that there's no better way to make up for an incredibly long and ridiculous absence than to finally have the canon couple get together. Finally. I've been waiting to write this scene since, well, forever. **

**Next chapter there will be more action, I promise. I just wanted to get back into the swing of things with this one. You may notice that my writing style has changed a bit. I tried to stick to the whole youthful-voice thing, but I may have epically failed. Sorry bout that. **

**Until next time!**


End file.
